(And a little info about Mercyville)
Comments or Suggestions?
jem1204@sbcglobal.net
Copyright 2013. Elmer-Missouri.com. All rights reserved.
Elmer, Missouri - Early History
Koger Leads Again in State Corn Shucking, by Cordell Tindall, 1941
Three Times Winner
Shucking in a rain that varied from drizzle to downpour, Ted Koger, of Elmer, became the only man to win the Missouri State Corn Shucking Contest three years in a row. For 24 hours it rained, turning the fine site of the contest on the Marion Motter farm, nine miles northwest of Kirksville, into a vast mudhole.
Just a few days before the date of the contest, October 31, the contest site had been moved from the Grimm farm south of Kirksville, as announced in the last Missouri Ruralist, to the farm of Marian Motter. The wind and rain had played havoc with the fine Grimm field, until it was judged unsatisfactory by the contest officials. The Motter field had been planted as an alternate field last spring and the change was made with little confusion.
Ted Koger, that popular champion, was the chief show for the few thousand spectators who got drenched in watching their favorite sport. Ted had a nice crowd from home following him all the way thru the slick field.
Koger picked 32.65 bushels to win the title. He, as well as all the other shuckers, said that had the field been in dry condition a new state record would have been set. For all agreed that the Motter field presented the shuckers the best corn ever shucked in a state contest.
In a rain that never ceased to fall, the shucks were heavy. Koger had only seven ounces of shucks to the 100 pounds, showing that he had kept this in mind. Deductions for shucks ran as high as 532 pounds for one contestant. Koger also had the largest gross load.
In the National Corn Husking Contest near Tonica, Illinois, on November 3, Koger placed eighth with a score of 40.09 bushels.