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    The Marion Popcorn Festival: A Fun-Filled History
    The Marion Popcorn Festival: A Fun-Filled History
    The Marion Popcorn Festival: A Fun-Filled History
    Ebook171 pages1 hour

    The Marion Popcorn Festival: A Fun-Filled History

    By Michelle Rotuno-Johnson

    ()

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    About this ebook

    In 1981, a small group of local business leaders put Marion, Ohio, on the path to hosting the largest popcorn festival on the planet. Founded in part to honor the achievements of Marion-based Wyandot, Incorporated, once the world's largest popcorn exporter, the Marion Popcorn Festival celebrates the city's dynamic industrial past. Free and open to the public for more than three decades, the festival attracts hundreds of thousands of fans for three days of popcorn, pageantry and fun. Drawing on the memories of founders and longtime volunteers, author Michelle Rotuno-Johnson brings us the festival from seed to snack in this all-encompassing work.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateAug 26, 2014
    ISBN9781625851949
    The Marion Popcorn Festival: A Fun-Filled History
    Author

    Michelle Rotuno-Johnson

    Ohio native Michelle Rotuno, Johnson is currently a reporter for the Marion Star, where she publishes features and breaking news. She previously worked as a news clerk for the Columbus Dispatch. A member of the dean's list for seven straight semesters, she graduated with honors from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2010, where she also worked as a managing editor for the Ohio Wesleyan Transcript, the oldest regularly published student-run newspaper in the country.

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      Book preview

      The Marion Popcorn Festival - Michelle Rotuno-Johnson

      Published by American Palate

      A Division of The History Press

      Charleston, SC 29403

      www.historypress.net

      Copyright © 2014 by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson

      All rights reserved

      First published 2014

      e-book edition 2014

      ISBN 978.1.62585.194.9

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Rotuno-Johnson, Michelle.

      The Marion Popcorn Festival : a fun-filled history / Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.

      pages cm

      Summary: Discover the history of Marion, Ohio’s famed Popcorn Festival-- Provided by publisher.

      print edition ISBN 978-1-62619-661-2 (paperback)

      1. Marion Popcorn Festival. 2. Marion (Ohio)--Social life and customs. I. Title.

      GT4811.M27R67 2014

      394.269771’514--dc23

      2014025818

      Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This book is dedicated to those of us who dream big.

      CONTENTS

      Foreword, by Pat Regules

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction. A Marion Tradition

      1. IT ALL STARTED WITH POPCORN

      Presidential Ties

      One Hundred Acres

      Worldwide

      The Change

      The Museum

      ConAgra

      2. MARION

      Its Place in History

      3. A KERNEL OF AN IDEA

      Now for the Fun Part

      Put to the Test

      4. MAINTAINING EXCELLENCE

      The 1980s: Building a New Tradition

      Year Ten

      The 1990s: Continued Growth

      Year Twenty

      A New Millennium: Spreading the Word

      5. ENTERTAINING THE MASSES

      Behind the Scenes

      Something for Everyone

      6. PARADES AND PAGEANTS

      Down the Road

      7. SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF

      A Point of Pride

      Economic Impact

      A Downtown Fixture

      8. LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

      Keeping Interest High

      Maintaining the Theme

      Future Goals

      9. CREATIVE SNACKERS AND POPCORN’S FUTURE

      Popcorn in America

      Creative Recipes

      Popcorn Poppers

      Popcorn Today

      Appendix A. George Brown’s 1981 Interview with Orville Redenbacher

      Appendix B. Popcorn Recipes

      Notes

      About the Author

      FOREWORD

      During several gatherings at a local restaurant that included local entrepreneurs, the discussion led to what we felt was missing in Marion, Ohio, as far as events are concerned.

      It was noted that a few years ago, Marion had a semipro baseball team, an indoor ice-skating rink at the coliseum and drum and bugle corps finals, along with other smaller events. A discussion ensued about what we as a group could do to shine the spotlight on the city of Marion.

      It was determined that other cities, small and large, had introduced festivals related to their local foods, such as the Bratwurst Festival, the Pumpkin Festival, the Corn Festival, the Zucchini Festival and several others. Naturally, we had a difficult time determining what type of food festival we could start. The idea of a Popcorn Festival popped up since we have Wyandot Popcorn and other snacks manufactured right here in Marion.

      Of course, many things had to be determined and take place, such as obtaining approval from the city, local police and fire departments, as well as local businesspeople. Fortunately, our little group had the right experience and connections to accomplish all these tasks. The group made several visits to other festivals and the Ohio State Fair promoting its forthcoming festival to their respective organizers and as many of the best food vendors as possible. The streets were then laid out to be blocked off as required. Several other ideas were brought up concerning insurance, entertainment, beer gardens and sponsorship. Beer gardens and sponsorships were to provide seed money for the production of the festival and for the free entertainment.

      The dates were set to be the first weekend after Labor Day due to the projected favorable weather conditions based on historical information from the Farmer’s Almanac. Hence, the first Popcorn Festival started in September 1981. That first Popcorn Festival turned out to be a huge success thanks to the help of many, many volunteers, the water company, the electric company and others. The festival didn’t make much money, but it didn’t lose money either.

      Once the opening ceremonies start, it has become tradition that the festival officers and most of the committee chairpersons gather backstage and celebrate another year of hard work with shooters, then get back to work.

      Although this is just a synopsis of how the festival got started, there have been many changes and additions, such as the numerous different events that go on throughout the year, including beauty pageants for the Miss Popcorn Festival, Tiny Pop, Wee Pop, the corn-shucking contest, the 5K run, the golf tournament, et cetera.

      All in all, the Popcorn Festival has become one of the premier events in the state of Ohio.

      PAT REGULES, FIRST FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

      with help from wife Kathy Regules, June 2014

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      This work would not have been possible without the time and energy of many other people who agreed to help me in this process. I don’t think any number of words can express my gratitude to so many friends, family, acquaintances and colleagues.

      Thank you to my editor, Greg Dumais, who e-mailed me in December 2013 and still wanted to do the project in February 2014 when I finally found his letter again in my unread e-mails and had the courtesy to e-mail him back. Thank you for your patience and encouragement—especially the patience part. Thank you also to the rest of the staff at The History Press for your work to make this book a reality.

      Thank you to Gale Martin and the staff at the Marion County Historical Society/Wyandot Popcorn Museum for scanning photos, answering questions and being accessible as I chased this project. You have all been wonderfully helpful. I couldn’t have done it without you! The binders full of popcorn knowledge (which I think Kathy Regules helped put together) and the website were so valuable to me.

      Thank you to Mike Nicolosi, Phyllis Hendrix, Karen Herr, Karen Shaffer, Lynn Zucker, Pat Regules, Kathy Regules and Norma Castanien for the history lessons, your time, your input, your memories and your help. To Mark Schwartzkopf and any other festival experts who died before I sat down to write this, thank you as well. Thank you to Marion mayor Scott Schertzer and to Diane Watson, director of the Marion County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, for your insight on the festival’s impact on Marion.

      Thanks to Brooks Brown for your time and your memories, as well as the background information on Wyandot. A special thanks as well to the rest of the Brown family, especially George Brown, W. Hoover Brown and Ava (King) Brown, whose work and words helped shape this book.

      Thank you to my Marion friends Delaney, Hank and Liz, who shared their memories of this fun festival with me. Hope to see you up there sometime.

      I owe a huge debt to everyone who has ever encouraged my writing passion, from the room moms who helped me publish books in elementary school, to anyone who read the handwritten newspaper I passed around on Lindale Drive as a kid, to the people who read my fan fiction on the Internet.

      Special thanks to Bill Carey, my high school English teacher at Roger Bacon. Thanks also to Joe Musser, Melinda Rhodes, Jim Underwood, Trace Regan and countless others I met

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