(Photos and text by Marty Goffe)
Members of the Palm Beach Region and others displayed their vehicles at the annual Sweet Corn Fiesta on April 26th at the South Florida Fairgrounds near West Palm Beach. Although a greater number of vehicles were expected, only eleven were present, largely due to the weather forecast of 96 degrees. We were provided with an umbrella about twelve feet in diameter and picnic tables. Mother Nature added a steady cooling breeze which actually made 96 degrees feel more like 80 degrees.
As always, the Sweet Corn Fiesta committee supplied lunch including the sweetest fresh corn-on-the-cob available and soft drinks to car owners and passengers. Fresh corn, brought in by refrigerated trailers (reefers), was bought hastily by thousands of Fiesta visitors by the bushel. All sorts of children’s and adult festivities were conducted at the Fiesta including a corn eating contest which was won by a champion in this annual contest who reportedly ate 32 ears of corn in five minutes as the assembled crowd cheered and applauded. Imagine the condition of his digestive system thereafter!
Many visitors were impressed by the collectible vehicles on display.
One of the vehicles displayed, although not quite a collectible at this point, was a 2005 Ford F350 Florida Forestry brush truck which is an important fire apparatus in this area.
One photo, with two Forestry firefighters, shows the business end of this apparatus with a 175 GPM (gallons per minute) Darley pump fed by a five-hundred gallon water tank and a five gallon foam cell (when required). This apparatus was used extensively recently during the annual dry season rash of brush fires.
Other vehicles attracting attention were a 1966 Amphicar, a 1986 Excaliber and a 2009 CanAm three wheel motorcycle. The oldest collectible present was a 1950 Ford four door sedan.