Sheldon, Iowa — It’s almost time for that summer treat — fresh corn on the cob. And while the coronavirus pandemic had people wondering if the Sheldon FFA were going to offer sweet corn this year — they have decided to go ahead.
Sheldon FFA advisor Gene Bomgaars is retiring and has already finished his final year of teaching at Sheldon High School. But he’s helping his replacement through his first Sheldon FFA sweet corn season. Bomgaars says they’ve set it up a little differently this year in terms of how much the FFA students are involved.
(as said:) “I visited with Mr. Myer, the superintendent of the schools and we feel it’s such a valuable project, and we think things have opened up enough, so we’re going to continue on. I did plant the sweet corn on good time this year, so it’ll be in the stores again this year, and it’ll be available for volume orders and everything’s looking good and it’s just starting to silk now, so we’re thinking by the end of July we might have some ready.”
He tells us how you can get some (or a bunch of) the famous sweet corn.
(as said:) “Our project has evolved over the last ten years about and so there’s a number of different ways. They will be available at Hy-Vee and Fareway in Sheldon here; it’ll be available in Hy-Vee and Fareway in Sioux Center and also Fareway in Orange City. So you could also contact any FFA member they’ll know about the system. You can call the school the school will give them cell phone numbers to get a hold of us and we’ll publish it with you guys put it in the paper. So there’s a lot of different ways that they can do that and usually, we also have a volume discount order for people that want to freeze corn and you can buy it a little cheaper yet if you buy it by the volume.”
Mr. Bomgaars tells us there’s someone he wants us to meet.
(as said) “I’m retiring at the end of July and I have the gentleman that’s going to replace me and his name is Jacob Fox. So, I’ve got him out here in the field with me. We’re going over a few of the kind of the protocol and how we do that so like to welcome him also.”
Mr. Fox tells us about his background.
(as said:) “I’ve been teaching at Sibley for the last four and a half years. So just down the road. I’m originally from Ashton. So I kind of split the difference between the two places. My wife’s been in the Sheldon school district the last five, and when Mr. Bomgaars announced his retirement, it just seemed like a good transition to make so, I’m very excited to see what’s available here in Sheldon. I’m very excited to get involved in the program, and excited to learn the ropes from Mr. Bomgaars before he leaves at the end of the month.”
Mr. Bomgaars says he wants to thank everyone for their support. He says the FFA students do a great job with the sweet corn each year, and get an educational benefit from the experience.
