Summer festival spotlight: with mashed potato wrestling, potato picking and peeling, Barnesville celebrates the spud
Competitors wrestle in a pool of mashed potatoes during Potato Days in Barnesville, Aug. 22, 2014.
Jeffrey Thompson / MPR News
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Mashed, fried, baked: there are lots of ways to consume potatoes. You can find them all in one place in Minnesota this weekend. The city of Barnesville is hosting its 33rd Annual Potato Days Festival to celebrate the city and the root vegetable farmed across Minnesota. Barnesville is a town of about 6 thousand people just 30 miles southeast of Fargo. MPR News host talked with Potato Days Chair Missie Goheen for the latest in Minnesota Now’s summer festival spotlight series.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: I am a fan of the potato. Mashed, fried, baked-- I don't care. There's a lot of ways to eat potatoes. You can find them all in one place in Minnesota this weekend-- and a whole lot of it. The city of Barnesville is hosting its 33rd annual Potato Days Festival to celebrate the city and the root vegetable farmed across Minnesota. Barnesville is a town of about 6,000, close to 30 miles southeast of Fargo.
Joining us as we continue our Summer Festival Spotlight Series is Missie Goheen, the chair of Potato Days in beautiful Barnesville, Minnesota. Missie, thanks for taking the time.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Gosh. So, 33 years ago, Potato Days started. What's the history of this festival?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yeah, so it actually started in the 1930s. And they wanted to highlight the many potato growers in the area. So they had a small town festival. And it has just gone from there.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] And there's still a lot of potato farmers in your area?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Not as many as there used to be, but there still are some. Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: OK. So if you don't have as many potato farmers anymore, where are you getting your potatoes from?
MISSIE GOHEEN: So, all over. C-W Valley Co-op out of Park Rapids helps us out and brings a big semi-load of potatoes to the festival each and every year.
CATHY WURZER: OK. So I understand you've got a ton of contests-- I'm not surprised-- dealing with potatoes, of course. There's a potato peeling and picking contest. Is that right?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yep. Yep. So picking, you pick the potatoes from the field. And then it kind of rolls into our sewing and stacking contest and then our strongman competition. The potato peeling contest is on the main stage Friday at 5:00. And whoever can peel the most poundage in potatoes wins.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Not an easy task, by the way, when you start handling those spuds. You mentioned a strongman competition. How is that going to work?
MISSIE GOHEEN: So after they go and stack the potatoes, they'll take the potato sack and lift them as high as they can onto a forklift. And whoever can get the 50 pounds bag of potatoes the highest up onto the forklift wins the competition.
CATHY WURZER: Yikes, that's a lot. OK, I'm wondering about the mashed potato wrestling. This sounds like it could be pretty messy.
MISSIE GOHEEN: [LAUGHS] It is. And this is a crowd favorite. We lost it last year and were able to bring it back this year, thanks to Minnesota Dehydrated Vegetable helping us out. So you pour a bunch of dehydrated vegetables into a big, let's say, 20 by 20 tarp area. And our fire department then adds water. And we have a bunch of little kids stomping around and mix it up, and then the wrestling begins.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] You're kidding. So, yeah, I can only imagine the mess. So what happens after with all the dehydrated veggies and the potatoes and all that? Do you give it to animals, or do you throw it out? Do you bury it? What happens?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yeah, sometimes they'll give it to animals. If nobody wants it in the area, then, yep, we'll just throw it out.
CATHY WURZER: OK, oh.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Nature's Pumping, which is a septic pumping company in our area, comes in, pumps it all out for us, so.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh. OK, so what's the favorite part of your event? What's the favorite part of the whole festival for you, personally?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Oh, it's a toss-up for me. I really like the water fights that our fire department puts on. And this year is supposed to be super hot, so I'm excited to get down there for those because it'll be a nice cool-down. Or the rodeo that we added last year. I love a good rodeo, so.
CATHY WURZER: OK, good, good. Now, Barnsville is not that big, as I say. It's not a smallish town, but it's a nice medium-sized town. But I'm guessing that with a festival like this, you've got to have a ton of people that come into town for this.
MISSIE GOHEEN: We do. Yep, our population, I want to say, is in the 6,000s. And throughout the weekend of the festival, we'll see 25-ish thousand people.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh, OK. And everyone's eating potatoes and that kind of thing. And by the way, before you go, since you have your pick as to how you are going to prepare potatoes during the potato festival, what do you like? Do you like a good baked potato, French fried? What's your favorite way to eat a potato?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Oh, I'm going to say a good baked potato is probably my favorite-- with toppings.
CATHY WURZER: I'm with you on that one. Oh, yeah, you have to have the fixings for sure. For sure. Oh, Missie, I hope you have a wonderful time. You're right. It's going to be hot. But with the water fights, I think that's the place I think most people will be. So, good luck. Have a great time.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Awesome. Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: Missie Goheen is the chair of Barnesville, Minnesota's Potato Days. Takes place this Friday and Saturday.
Joining us as we continue our Summer Festival Spotlight Series is Missie Goheen, the chair of Potato Days in beautiful Barnesville, Minnesota. Missie, thanks for taking the time.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Gosh. So, 33 years ago, Potato Days started. What's the history of this festival?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yeah, so it actually started in the 1930s. And they wanted to highlight the many potato growers in the area. So they had a small town festival. And it has just gone from there.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] And there's still a lot of potato farmers in your area?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Not as many as there used to be, but there still are some. Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: OK. So if you don't have as many potato farmers anymore, where are you getting your potatoes from?
MISSIE GOHEEN: So, all over. C-W Valley Co-op out of Park Rapids helps us out and brings a big semi-load of potatoes to the festival each and every year.
CATHY WURZER: OK. So I understand you've got a ton of contests-- I'm not surprised-- dealing with potatoes, of course. There's a potato peeling and picking contest. Is that right?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yep. Yep. So picking, you pick the potatoes from the field. And then it kind of rolls into our sewing and stacking contest and then our strongman competition. The potato peeling contest is on the main stage Friday at 5:00. And whoever can peel the most poundage in potatoes wins.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Not an easy task, by the way, when you start handling those spuds. You mentioned a strongman competition. How is that going to work?
MISSIE GOHEEN: So after they go and stack the potatoes, they'll take the potato sack and lift them as high as they can onto a forklift. And whoever can get the 50 pounds bag of potatoes the highest up onto the forklift wins the competition.
CATHY WURZER: Yikes, that's a lot. OK, I'm wondering about the mashed potato wrestling. This sounds like it could be pretty messy.
MISSIE GOHEEN: [LAUGHS] It is. And this is a crowd favorite. We lost it last year and were able to bring it back this year, thanks to Minnesota Dehydrated Vegetable helping us out. So you pour a bunch of dehydrated vegetables into a big, let's say, 20 by 20 tarp area. And our fire department then adds water. And we have a bunch of little kids stomping around and mix it up, and then the wrestling begins.
CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS] You're kidding. So, yeah, I can only imagine the mess. So what happens after with all the dehydrated veggies and the potatoes and all that? Do you give it to animals, or do you throw it out? Do you bury it? What happens?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Yeah, sometimes they'll give it to animals. If nobody wants it in the area, then, yep, we'll just throw it out.
CATHY WURZER: OK, oh.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Nature's Pumping, which is a septic pumping company in our area, comes in, pumps it all out for us, so.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh. OK, so what's the favorite part of your event? What's the favorite part of the whole festival for you, personally?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Oh, it's a toss-up for me. I really like the water fights that our fire department puts on. And this year is supposed to be super hot, so I'm excited to get down there for those because it'll be a nice cool-down. Or the rodeo that we added last year. I love a good rodeo, so.
CATHY WURZER: OK, good, good. Now, Barnsville is not that big, as I say. It's not a smallish town, but it's a nice medium-sized town. But I'm guessing that with a festival like this, you've got to have a ton of people that come into town for this.
MISSIE GOHEEN: We do. Yep, our population, I want to say, is in the 6,000s. And throughout the weekend of the festival, we'll see 25-ish thousand people.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh, OK. And everyone's eating potatoes and that kind of thing. And by the way, before you go, since you have your pick as to how you are going to prepare potatoes during the potato festival, what do you like? Do you like a good baked potato, French fried? What's your favorite way to eat a potato?
MISSIE GOHEEN: Oh, I'm going to say a good baked potato is probably my favorite-- with toppings.
CATHY WURZER: I'm with you on that one. Oh, yeah, you have to have the fixings for sure. For sure. Oh, Missie, I hope you have a wonderful time. You're right. It's going to be hot. But with the water fights, I think that's the place I think most people will be. So, good luck. Have a great time.
MISSIE GOHEEN: Awesome. Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: Missie Goheen is the chair of Barnesville, Minnesota's Potato Days. Takes place this Friday and Saturday.
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