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Fifty years ago, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev came to Coon Rapids to visit his friend Bob Garst and learn about growing corn and feeding livestock. Garst was helping the US's most feared enemy improve its food production, in a citizen diplomacy effort he called "Peace through Corn." The Coon Rapids visit was one of the most publicized stops on Khrushchev's historic 1959 tour of the United States and more than 600 news journalists were on site for the visit.
Saturday, August 29, the past and the future will come together with an Agricultural Progress Festival in Coon Rapids. Featured is a Farm Progress Parade at 1:30 p.m. Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet Premier, is one of the featured guests of the day, along with dozens of other Russian scholars, agriculturalists and interpreters. The Russian delegation will see ag equipment displays featuring the latest in technology and a historical corn plot.
For fun, there will be a silage corn throwing contest as well as a Garst and Khrushchev look-alike contest. Live music and a beer garden round out the day's activities.
The day begins at 9:45 a.m. when the public is invited to visit the historic Garst Farm, now owned by Whiterock Conservancy and located along Highway 141 just east of Coon Rapids. A ceremony will be held to dedicate the entry of the entire farm into the National Register of Historic Places. Speakers will include Roswell's daughter Tosh Lee, granddaughter Liz Garst, and Sergei Khrushchev. All three were present during the historic 1959 visit.
The Garst Farm ceremony will end with a speech by Wes Jackson of the Land Institute of Kansas, who will invite the members of a 43 person Russian agribusiness delegation to join him in cutting-edge genetic research into the possibility of making corn a perennial crop.
Afternoon festivities include the 1:30 p.m. parade. Afterwards, the Garst and Khrushchev look-a-like contest will be held on Main Street with prizes awarded. That will be followed by the silage throw. (NOTE: Garst became famous for hurling corn silage at the aggressive crowd of reporters who were interrupting his efforts to give Khrushchev a tour of his farm).
History buffs will further enjoy an original 40-minute play "Peace Through Corn" to be performed at 3:30 and 5:00 at the CRB High School auditorium.
Parking will be located at the high school, at the entry to the Garst Farm, and at several other spots around town. All through the day shuttle buses will carry visitors in a loop linking the main attractions.
The Syngenta historic corn plot is located across from Macke Ford on Highway 141 west of Coon Rapids and is sure to interest city folks as well as farmers.
Besides the farm machinery parade, machinery enthusiasts will enjoy the display set up at Main Street and 4th Avenue. Showcased will be antique corn planters from the mid-to late 1800s, mostly one and two-row wooden planters, antique cloth seed corn sacks, and corn related wood carvings.
At the other end of the spectrum, at the 141 entryway to Coon Rapids, New Holland Agriculture and Case IH will be displaying various state-of-the art pieces of equipment. The Case IH and New Holland machinery displays will be in Coon Rapids for one day only, Sat., August 29.
Family fun activities sponsored by the CRB High School FFA Chapter, food sales, historic film clips, live music, and a beer garden will round out the fun. The beer garden starts at 5:00 p.m. and all proceeds will benefit the Coon Rapids Fire Department.
The Coon Rapids festival is just one of the events being organized by the statewide "Khrushchev in Iowa" committee. Another big attraction is the historic banquet to be held at the Hotel Fort Des Moines Friday evening, featuring speeches by Sergei Khrushchev and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
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©Guthrie Center Times 2010
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