WEST POINT — Thursday's Sweet Corn Festival in West Point came in like a lion and went out like a lion cub.
Thunderstorms stomped around the town square until well after noon, but the weather cleared in time for the princess and queen contestants to take the stage.
The Sweet Corn Festival attracts 25,000 visitors each August with free sweet corn, free entertainment and free live music. An estimated 36,500 ears of corn are anticipated as dump trucks roll into town throughout the week.
Those cobs are gobbled up for free.
Thursday's highlights included barbecue pork loin dinners by the Lee County Pork Producers as festgoers took to the bleachers in anticipation of the Festival Princess and Queen candidate interviews that began at 6 p.m. The coronations were followed with a performance by the Holy Trinity Catholic Schools of Fort Madison Dance Team.
Longtime West Point councilman and the evening's emcee, Joe Loving began by thanking all the sponsors and volunteers before giving away free ride tickets to the first four kids who rushed the stage.
Loving said 17.3 tons of corn were shucked on Wednesday at Shuckfest.
"West Point is a great family festival," he said.
More:68th annual Sweet Corn Festival returns to West Point
A festival fit for queens and princesses
WPSCF committee member Ann Abolt said the queen contestants were all juniors or seniors in Lee County, and three judges from West Point determined the winner.
"The Queen receives a $500 check from Pilot Grove Savings Bank and Investment Services. The runner-up receives $100 donated by Connection Bank," Abolt said. "The princesses receive a crown and a goody-bag."
So, what's in the goody-bag?
"Just random little things like an ice cream cone certificate," Abolt said with a chuckle.
This year's princess hopefuls were 12 girls ages 4-8 who put out collection jars in local businesses to raise money for the community; the contestant with the most money is the next princess, winning a crown, sash and free ride tickets.
The sky began to drizzle as little Emma Wilkins of West Point accepted her honorific tiara.
Wilkins said her favorite sport is T-ball and her dog's name is Belzer.
The three queen hopefuls were Kayla Box 16, Olivia Tennant 16, and Alesha Hellman, 17.
Box said she attends Holy Trinity Catholic Schools in Fort Madison and mows lawns and walks beans to earn money.
Tennant, from Donnellson, told the crowd she works at Sonny's Super Market right next door to the stage she was standing upon.
Hellman, who hails from Houghton and plays softball, said she wants to be a pediatric oncologist. Meanwhile, she works in a gas station.
Box was crowned queen, and Tennant earned first runner-up honors.
An unruffled Hellman said afterwards that being a Sweet Corn contestant was a good experience.
"I did it to be a role model for younger girls and to represent a good community," she said.
The 2019 Sweet Corn Queen Alison Robu said she was excited to have the festival back after missing a year.
"It's a big part of our community. It brings us together," Robu said.
Robu, who left on Friday to play college golf at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, said she's done several interviews this year as the only female golfer at MMU.
And being queen for two years running?
"I like the parades. I like a good excuse to dress up," Robu said with a smile.
More:Photos: Shuckfest 2021
Dance team performances
Following the coronations, the Holy Trinity dance teams performed, the first comprised of 25 young pre-elementary girls, the second made up of 14 and older fourth- to sixth-graders.
The rain began to drizzle with more determination as the HTCS dance teams were followed by a mother-daughter dance featuring nine pairings of committee moms and their daughters; one adventuresome pair did cartwheels together to much applause.
As the crowd flowed from the stands back into the shelter house to feast on barbecued pork and more sweet corn, Olivia Tennant's mom, Tara Sides of Donnellson, said her daughter's win was a sentimental moment: Sides' father passed away recently.
"He was in charge of Shuckfest at one time," she said.
Tennant's grandmother Jeanne Bremekamp came up from her home in Belize to see her granddaughter compete.
Bremekamp, who moved to Belize in 1977 and ran the Barrier Reef hotel and the Navigator Bar on the island of Ambergris Caye with her husband, was crowned Sweet Corn Queen in 1967 when she was Jeannie Groene — pronounced "Greenie."
"I thought Olivia should have won, too, but runner-up is good," Bremekamp said.
Then the clouds drifted apart and the skies over West Point cleared.
Saturday festivities: 5k and10k runs, water fights, corn hole and more
Registration for Saturday's 5K and 10K run is in front of the main stage on Saturday beginning at 6:45 a.m., and registration for the Pee Wee Drags for kids aged 3 to 6 is in front of the stage beginning at 10:30; those races begin at 11 a.m.
There is a fee for the 5K and 10K runs but the Pee Wee Drags have no entry fee.
Also on Saturday are the Junior Water Fights, ages 7-12, no fee.
Registration for the doubles horseshoe tournament for ages 16 and over begins at 9 a.m., tournament at 10, cash prizes will be awarded.
The Corn Hole Tournament registration for adults 21 and over begins at 3 p.m. on the south side of the Park; entry fees source the cash prizes awarded.
A free concert by Whiskey Friends, sponsored by the Pilot Grove Savings Bank, begins at 7 p.m.
Sunday's events begin at 11 a.m. with more chicken and corn, the annual Sweet Corn Festival Parade at noon, and the much-anticipated Mini Garden Tractor Pull sponsored by Sinclair Tractor. Weigh-in starts at 1 p.m., the Pull begins at 2 p.m.
The Carnival by Archway Amusem*nts and the Arts & Crafts in The Park vendors begin at 11 a.m. today, noon on Sunday.
Sunday's events: parade, tractor pull
Sunday's events begin at 11 a.m. with still more chicken and corn. The annual Sweet Corn Festival Parade is at noon, and the crowning event, the Mini Garden Tractor Pull sponsored by Sinclair Tractor, follows at 2 p.m.; weigh-in is 1 p.m.
The Carnival by Archway Amusem*nts and the Arts & Crafts in The Park vendors begin around noon on Sunday.
There will be plenty of sweet corn — until it, like the perfect summer day, disappears until next year.
Proceeds go to the city of West Point for town improvements.
The WPSCF is sponsored by Pilot Grove Savings Bank, Merschman Seeds, Lee County Bank, Lee County Pork Producers, and Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center.
For updates and more information, go to westpointsweetcornfestival.com or wpcornfest on Facebook or email wpcornfest@gmail.com.
Instagram is wpcornfest, hashtag #WPSCF.
