Andrew Levi McKinney was named 2008 Corn Days King Saturday afternoon on the downtown Carmi stage and Amber South was named 2008 Corn Days Queen.
The coronation came during the 81st annual Carmi Kiwanis Club Corn Days celebration, a two-day event blessed by warm, dry weather and witnessed by thousands of people.
McKinney is a nine-year member of the Enfield Blue Ribbon 4-H Club and the 16-year-old son of Jim and Karen McKinney of rural Enfield. He can claim perfect attendance at club meetings for those nine years.
He is a junior at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School and won the FFA weed and seed identification contest last year as well as placing in the top ten in soil judging. He is the vice president of the NCOE FFA chapter.
South is a 10-year member of the Enfield Blue Ribbon 4-H Club and the 18-year-old daughter of Charles and Wanda South of rural Enfield. She has exhibited 123 4-H projects at the county show.
She is an NCOE grad and is a freshman at Rend Lake College, where she received a full scholarship to play the piano for the choir, musicals and other performing arts activities. She is also active in the RLC band, her local church and its youth groups.
The coronation immediately preceded (for the second straight year) the annual Corn Days parade, which began near the high school and proceeded east along Main Street to the Courthouse. Thousands of people lined the street to witness the event, which took nearly two hours to complete.
Winners in the parade were Cub Scouts Pack 340 and Boy Scouts Troop 342, best theme float; Brownsville School, second place, theme float; Zion Church, best non-theme float; Wabash Christian Retirement Center, second place, non-theme float; "I Do" wedding consultants, best commercial float.
This year's parade theme was "Celebrating the Past - Looking to the Future." David Simmons (a past club president), accompanied by his wife, Gerarda, served as parade marshal. Greg Stewart emceed the parade.
Numerous observers said they cannot remember a warmer Corn Days, as temperatures reached into the mid 80s and the sun bore down on the revelers until late afternoon.
The celebration got underway late Friday afternoon with Jim Kress and Nancy J. Winter, immediate past president and the current president of the club, welcoming the crowd.
Singer Meghan Crain of McLeansboro took the main stage at Main and Walnut streets and entertained the crowd there, while the first-ever Corn Days cornhole tournament was held on Main Street just east of the Kiwanis hospitality tent.
The event (and $50) was won by Beecher residents Katie and Don Davis of Beecher, daughter and son-in-law of Mary and Glenn Coleman of Carmi, while Corey Bolerjack and Josh Ackerman were the runners-up and won $25. Kirby Damery and Jade McCallister also won $25 by winning the consolation bracket.
"We had 16 teams, and we plan on expanding to include more teams next year," said Dr. Clint Taylor, event chairman.
Kids' games were held simultaneously on the parking lot of Old National Bank on West Main Street.
A gospel music concert featuring Royal Promise (of Flora) and nationally-renowned Tribute Quartet of Nashville, Tenn. was held at 7 at the middle school gym. The free show was attended by a sparse crowd.
At the same time, four musical groups competed in the Battle of the Bands concert downtown.
A rap/metal band from Greenville College won the Battle of the Bands contest. The band, consisting of Andrew Dawson, Neil Winter, Charlie Devos, Chris Bonney and Drew Michel, took home the $1,000 prize.
Carmi bands Arts & Sciences and Behind 4 Corners took second and third place, respectively. Nat Taylor, Doug Hays and Rick Belford served as judges for the event.
Carmi native Tim Ash took the stage after the Battle of the Bands, closing the evening's entertainment.
Three events were held beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, including the Beta Nu children's contest (see results elsewhere in this issue), a washer-pitching contest (held at Veterans Memorial Park) and a car show. Washer-pitching winners were Roger Thompson of McLeansboro (singles), and Chris Lueke of Carmi and Steve Richerson of Norris City (doubles), said chairman David Healy.
The annual Corn Days car show was held on West Main Street from the Old National Bank to First Baptist Church, and David Port the event chairman, said the number of entries (112) was twice that of a year ago. "It was a success beyond what we could have dreamed," he said. "Not only were our numbers way up, so was the overall quality of the cards." Complete results of the show will be published later this week.
Two events began at 10 a.m., including the artisan fest (chaired by Art Saunders) and held on Main Street in front of the City Building. Scott Rice again chaired the 10 a.m. pet parade, which was witnessed by a throng of parents, other family members and friends. The pet parade winners (in order from first to second, spelled as written down by the judges), by category:
Best costume (famous actor or actress): Mackinzie and Zoey Knight, Julianne Glover
Best decorated bicycle: Alexis Conner, Alex O'Daniel
Best decorated tricycle: Gracey Stephens
Prettiest pet: Claudia Whetstone, Allison Cozart
Most unusual pet: Jacob Paige (a tiny musk turtle), Shana Miller (a rat named Opossum)
Ugliest pet: Rhody Attebury (a dog named Bosco), Kassidy Stephens (a dog named Chichi)
Best float (theme): Hybrid car, Brianna Anderson, Lexi Adams; Madden Anderson, Addison Mallette
Best float: Koby Large, Akilah Large, Saylor Mason (superheroes); Blane and Jace Smith, Adison Willison; Peyton Digman, Jasmin Acord, Katelyn Hill
Best pet costume: Oliver and Hunter Green; Jesse Caleb McKindsey Cameron
Most unusual costume: Grace and Jenna, Katie
Best Disney costume: Lily Redman, Maeve Dolan
There were ten entries in the annual chili cook-off, held at Veterans Memorial Park, and hundreds of people lined up to sample the food.
The Carmi Lions Club won both the Tasters' Choice and Judges' Honor trophies (and a combined $350). The entry of Enfield Packing Co. and the Mad Hatters 4-H Club was second in the Tasters' Choice competition, and a team from Elastec/American Marine was third. The Cardinal Restaurant of Norris City was second and Phoenix Rehab & Nursing third in the Judges' Honor category, while the Cardinal won the spirit and restaurant competition. Other entrants included teams from the VFW Men's Auxiliary, Elks Lodge, First Bank, Jeff Martin and Our Savior Lutheran Church. Andrea Hays chaired the event.
A cakewalk was conducted downtown at 11 a.m. by Carmi Pre-Kindergarten. Mike Porter, Marsha Banning and The