Montrose - Daily Press

OLATHE  — The traffic started lining the streets of Olathe early Saturday morning. By noon, rows of cars were parked down the frontage and dirt roads along U.S. Highway 50 and town parking lots were filling up fast.

In one day, the small town of Olathe, population just slightly more than 1,500, seemed busy as downtown Denver. Some people came from across the country, while others came from the local area — all came to enjoy their “body weight in corn,” festivities and music at the 2008 Olathe Sweet Corn Festival.

“Everything went marvelous,” said Bobbi Sale, special events director for the town of Olathe.

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Though one wouldn’t notice from the cars and crowds of people, this year’s festival seemed to have a lower attendance during the day, Sale said. She attributes it to several factors, including daytime temperatures that reached the 100s and the price of gas and economic strain on many people’s pocketbooks.

The concert crowd, however, was “packed,” said Sale. She was impressed by the numbers that turned out for country musician Travis Tritt, along with the length of Tritt’s show.

“The concert was incredible. He played for two and a half hours almost nonstop,” she said.

Exact attendance numbers won’t be available for about a month, as tickets were also sold at local stores.

Event staffer Richard Harding spent the day parking cars and said he saw license plates from all over the country. A majority were from Utah, Arizona and Wyoming.  

Harding said one woman told him why she comes every year. “The reason we come here is because everyone is just so friendly,” she told Harding.

“You know, that’s cool,” Harding said.

Despite the lower numbers, there is no doubt that the festival helps the local economy.

Saturday morning, parade participants and watchers were wandering inside local shops downtown or grabbing a soda from the local convenience store.

The Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Friday events were also a hit, as many people, both young and old, moved their feet along Olathe’s Main Street during an evening dance. The car show also brought people to the small town.

“There are people who come to town to come to the corn festival on Saturday and come down Friday to see what is going on downtown,” Sale said.

People are not only spending their money in Olathe, but also in Montrose and Delta. Many people stayed at a hotel in one of the two closest cities. Tritt’s band stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Montrose.

Along with participants feeding the local economy, the festival itself is mostly supported through local help and products.

“We purchase everything we can locally,” Sale said. “All the paper products, napkins, paper towels, we get from the local hardware store. ... Then it goes out one more layer. If we can’t get it in Olathe, we go to Delta or Montrose.”

From Callaway Packing in Delta, the festival purchased 80,000 deli sheets for the corn, 60 gallons of butter, one gallon of black pepper and 25 pounds of salt, said Eriene Glover, an owner of Callaway Packing.

The corn supply was just perfect as well, Sale said. They stop serving at 9 p.m. because of the concert and darkness; seven minutes after 9 p.m. they ran completely out of corn.

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