Strasburg Summer Festival will still celebrate corn

There will be plenty of roasted corn, homemade food, games and music on tap for the first Strasburg Summer Festival on July 26 from 4-10 p.m. and July 27 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Franklin Park, located off Fourth Street Southeast.

Nancy Cregan, festival chairman, said plans were to bring the festival back and bring the community together. “Come and enjoy the festival. We want people to experience small-town atmosphere,” she said.

The former Corn Festival was last held in July 2019.

The festival will open July 26 at 4 p.m. Food will be available, and the band Tim and TJ Gang will perform from 7-10 p.m. Those attending should bring chairs.

A Cleveland Clinic Critical Care Transport helicopter will land on the football field at 7:30 p.m.

On July 27 registration for the 5k race will begin at 6:30 a.m. at the football stadium. The race will begin at 8 a.m. and end at Franklin Terrace, located on South Bodmer Avenue. Register in advance with Ohio Challenge Series at a cost of $25. On the day of the race, the cost is $30.

There will be a three-on-three basketball tournament at the basketball court in the park beginning at 10 a.m.

Softball tournaments will be held throughout the day.

At 11 a.m. a dedication plaque will be placed on the Boy Scout pavilion in memory of late Bub Dreher, who was an Eagle Scout and Scout leader. He also represented the Boy Scouts, which hold meetings at Strasburg St. John United Church of Christ.

The New Towne Cloggers will perform at 11 a.m., and the corn-eating contest will be held from 1-3 p.m., both in front of the gazebo.

A beer garden will be available both days and will be moved closer to the gazebo, where the bands and others will entertain.

The band “Into the Flood” will perform from 7-10 p.m.

There will be a dunking machine, bounce houses and face painting for the youth.

Some of the food choices will be roasted corn, barbecued chicken, sausage sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, corn dogs, hot dogs and coneys, nachos and cheese, pies, French fries, fried pickles, elephant ears, soft drinks, Miller ice cream, and popcorn.

The festival first began in July 1981 by the former Strasburg Business Association. When they disbanded, it was headed by the village council until the pandemic came and the Corn Fest was canceled. The council felt it could no longer sponsor the festival, and volunteers seemed impossible to find. The council agreed to give the committee $6,000 as seed funds to start a festival.

Facts of former festivals: In 1996 the fest netted $8,077, in 1999 it was $5,688 because of inclement weather, and in 1998 it was $12,000 and was used to pay off 10 acres the village purchased in 1992 at the north end of the park, which are now ball fields. The profit in 2019 was $1,386. Any profits from the 2024 festival will be kept as seed funds for a 2025 festival and to pay the Boy Scouts.

There will be a $5 fee for parking at the festival.

The festival has 17 sponsors.

A committee consisting of Nancy Cregan, chairman; Brent Metzger, treasurer; and Elizabeth Slater, Duck and Judy Krantz, and John and Becky Sibila have been making plans for the festival to return. Volunteers are needed. Call Cregan at 330-447-7092.