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Show us what you got: Corn Days adds talent competition
August 1, 2019
By Kayla Culver reporter.patriot@ecm-inc.com
Since its beginnings in the ‘70’s, Corn Days has grown from an event based on The Church of St. George’s harvest dinners to a community festival bringing in all sorts of attractions for all ages.
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The weekend-long event still serves as a church fundraiser; however, it has embraced adding new and unique ways of bringing people within the community out. One new way is the addition of the Corn Days Has Talent Contest.
“We have been coordinating the entertainment for the last few years and we’re always trying to find something new and unique for the first slot that will bring people in. We thought if we start Corn Days Has Talent Contest we could bring in people,” St. George Music Director and Corn Days co-chair Kelly Kadlec said.
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According to Corn Days co-chair Jim Tierney, over the years they wanted to find a way to start a scholarship foundation with the hopes that the event will grow enough to pay for half of a student's yearly tuition. Kadlec and Tierney started the Cygnet Scholarship Foundation and have raised funds for this year the grand prizes.
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The winner of the open division will win $300. The open division is just that, open to anyone in the Long Lake and Orono area who is looking to show off their talent. Graduating seniors or students continuing their college journey (classes of 2016-2019) can compete in the scholarship division for a scholarship prize of $500.
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“We think it’s really cool to help kids with their college education. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start a foundation, which we have...We think that even though it’s going to start small that this will become big,” Tierney said.
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In order to participate in the talent contest, contestants must be either a resident or Orono or Long Lake, a student or former graduate of a school in Orono or Long Lake or a parishioner at St. George.
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Auditions will be held at St. George on Friday, Aug. 9 between 6-9 p.m. Those interested can sign-up at corndays.com. All acts must be four minutes or less. Those chosen to compete will perform at Corn Days on Saturday, Aug. 10. For those in the audience, the show will begin at 1 p.m.
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“It will be something to look forward to year after year. It’s the big town party. We’re hoping it brings out more excitement to Long Lake,” Kadlec said.
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Saturday festivities also begin at 1 p.m. with food, games, music and a wine pull. Other Saturday attractions include inflatables, a petting zoo, Alma Folklorica, Mass at 4 p.m., music by Stampede, and a fiesta dinner. “Toy Story” begins at 7 p.m. and music by Echo Band begins at 8 p.m.
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The silent auction is from 1-7 p.m. on Saturday and 8:30-4 p.m. on Sunday. Interested buyers can view the items for auction on the Corn Days website. Items include: gift cards, outdoor speakers, a dinosaur pool float, a charcoal grill, Twins versus the White Sox tickets, jewelry and more.
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Sunday activities start with a pancake breakfast from 8:30-11 a.m., Mass at 9:15 a.m., a kids fun run, bingo, music by Welcome Drive, music by Leah and the Rattlers, a raffle drawing and the annual parade sponsored by the Long Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at 12 p.m.
The Church of St. George in Long Lake hosted its 49th annual Corn Days festival. Over the weekend of Aug. 1--11, the church grounds featured a petting zoo, kids' games, food vendors, bingo, live music from Echo Band, Welcome Drive and Leah and the Rattlers. New this year was St. George's talent show. The winners of the $300 prize in the open division were Brooke Wooley and Halle Foster, a local singing duo. The winner of the $500 prize in the scholarship division was Katie Dore, who played "Hungarian Serenade" on her flute. The second-place $250 winner in the Scholarship Division was Christine Henjum who sang "Thank God for Hometowns" by Carrie Underwood. The prizes for both divisions were provided by the Cygnet Foundation. The Long Lake Area Chamber of Commerce supported the annual parade on Sunday, which kick-off at noon. Dozens of floats from local businesses, youth sports and community organizations were represented.
"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one"
--Malcolm Forbes