CORNucopia of fair tradition

YAKIMA, Wash. -- You can doctor it up any way you want: lemon juice, mayo, chili powder, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and -- of course, unless you're on some low-fat, heart-healthy diet -- butter.

The boiled ears of corn come swimming in the stuff, unless you specifically ask for yours plain. And according to members of Yakima's A.C. Davis High School Athletics Booster Club, plain is not the most popular choice.

"Believe it or not, some people ask for more butter," says 60-year-old Dick Smith, a 17-year volunteer veteran of the Pirates corn booth at the Central Washington State Fair.

With its signature orange-and-black awning and burlap sacks of fresh corn piled up in back, the shack is an old favorite for fairgoers, including fans from Ike and Davis alike.

"There's no cross-town rivalry when it comes to this corn booth," says 44-year-old Sherri Cobane, a parent of a Pirate.

Sometimes, she says, Eisenhower High School alumni will leave with the Davis corn booth dripping butter down Rodeo Drive and saying, "You didn't see me here."

The weathered, wooden booth -- with its boiling pots, buckets of butter and painted sign proclaiming "Hot Buttered Corn" just below the tent-like awning -- has been a fair fixture since the 1960s.

Built by boosters back in the day, "It's part of history," Smith says. "It's like a landmark. We've been here ever since we started in the same spot."

And the booth will be in the same spot next year, too -- only it will look different. According to boosters, this is the last year the original, orange-and-black booth will be used at the fair.

"It'll be sad to see it go," says Smith, who had two kids graduate from Davis, the last in 1990.

The boosters plan to replace the old-school stand with a new travel trailer and continue their corn-selling tradition at next year's fair. They might even bring it to other events. The mobile unit will be easier to transport to games and tournaments, providing more opportunities to raise money.

Meantime, the booster club's corn booth remains one its biggest annual fundraisers. And that's true of many nonprofits that have stands at the fair.

According to Greg Stewart, president and general manager of the Central Washington State Fair, more than 30 school and nonprofit groups -- from the Washington Wool Growers Auxiliary and Selah Heights Grange to St. Paul Cathedral School, Harrah Christian School and Young Life -- staff various booths -- from lamb burgers and ice cream to elephant ears and barbecue -- at the fair. Together, Stewart says, they'll generate close to $500,000 during the fair's 10-day run.

"I think that's fairly significant," Stewart says. "For a lot of them, this is their main fundraiser for the year."

Money raised from the $3 ears of Pirate corn goes to supplementing tournament and transportation fees, and buying uniforms and other supplies -- from golf clubs to a score table, even a shooting machine for basketball practice. This year, the boosters hope to raise $10,000.

"It's for the kids. That's why we do this," says 52-year-old Amy Padavich, booster club secretary.

She estimates the booth will go through about 1,500 ears of corn, seven 20-pound buckets of butter and 60 cases of bottled water and soda throughout the event.

In the old days, when everything was cheaper, Pirate corn peddlers would call out to passers-by.

"They used to say, 'A buck an ear!' when they were a dollar," Padavich says. (Get it -- a buccaneer?)

Nowadays, "We have a lot of people say when they come to the fair this is their first stop," Smith says. "There's a lot to choose from here. So it's nice to hear them say that."

And this year -- for the first time ever -- the cornucopia is serving up two sorts. There's the regular, boiled and buttered kind. And there's the new, roasted variety.

Old-timer Bob Van Dyke, 67, isn't a fan of the new kind of corn. He's been volunteering in the booth since 1985, when his oldest daughter was a freshman at Davis. His youngest son graduated in 2000.

Yet Van Dyke's still here, serving as the booth's unofficial master-at-arms as well as its official corn taster. He's not sold on the roasted ears just yet. He likes his boiled and buttered.

"Once in awhile I'll take a little parmesan or chili, but I like it just plain," he says, adding -- with a grin -- that he usually eats "more than I should. I would imagine a couple a day."

In addition to boosters, coaches and athletes, alumni and Pirate parents volunteer in the booth. Students usually end up shucking corn, which comes from a farm in the Lower Valley. (The boosters say they get a good deal.)

"For us alumni, it's like a reunion," says 41-year-old Josie Henderson, a 1986 Davis grad and booster club treasurer. "A lot of alumni will come and, even if they don't eat corn, they'll donate and share stories with us."

Her husband Les, 38, a 1989 Davis grad, is booster club president. Each year, he says, "The corn just gets sweeter, and the butter just gets more buttery."

And it's difficult to get rid of it, according to 37-year-old Lisa Gordon, another Pirate parent. "I can wash these aprons a thousand times, and they still smell like butter," she says.

*Adriana Janovich can be reached at 509-577-7653 or ajanovich@yakimaherald.com.

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