Nebraska State Hand Cornhusking Contest visits York

As a young man, Jerry Carraher picked corn by hand, one ear at a time. He did it because he had to do it that way. That Carraher, still wiry and lean at 83, does it for fun these days doesn’t mean he takes it any less seriously.

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One of 70 contestants in the Nebraska State Hand Cornhusking Contest Saturday at York, the competitive Carraher, a resident of Spalding, finished fifth among pickers age 75 and older.

“Yes, I did it for real,” he said, answering a question about his personal experience getting the crop in an ear at a time. “I started husking from about age 10 until I went into the Army” near the end of World War II. After his military service, Carraher again did some hand cornhusking, but the age of big machines brought the lost art to a halt in short order.

Carraher attended a cornhusking contest or two as an observer years ago, he said. Someone asked why he didn’t compete. Carraher couldn’t come up with a good answer.

“So I tried it,” he said, “and I did all right.”

That was in 1994. Carraher has been picking competitively since, with the emphasis on competitive. Even during a warm-up team pick, designed to give the contestants a feel for conditions in the field, Carraher was ripping husks open with his hook-mounted glove, twisting the ears free of the stalk, flinging them against the bang board with the no-look accuracy of an NBA point guard and lunging to the next plant.

Keeping perfect pace was the team of Bonnie and Cagney , a matched pair of Belgian draft horses from Double Heart Ranch in Superior.

Even at age 83, Carraher could not lay claim to being the oldest picker in the field ... or even second oldest. Those honors went to 87-year-old Wayne Cheney of Bennet and Victor Johnson, 85, from York.

In all some 16 teams of horses or mules pulled wagons for the pickers in this, the second year for the York Area Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Committee to sponsor the event.

This year’s count of 70 contestants is slightly up from last year. The 20 celebrity pickers brought the grand total to 90 hand cornhuskers of all ages and widely varying abilities.

Testing their skill in the celebrity contest were Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and Richard Baier, director of the Department of Economic Development. Working as a team, Sheehy and Baier joked their way to ninth in the 10-team field.

Others in the celebrity category included city, county and state officials.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International was title sponsor for the contest, held just north of York’s distinctive balloon water tower at the I-80 interchange.

The contest is expected to take place in York again next fall, then move to another Nebraska community.

Complete results of the contest include:
• Golden Age 75-up — 1. Roland Lauer (Gothenburg), 2. Jack Guthrie (Odessa), 3. Ed Hartwig (Auburn), 4. Leroy Sand (Kimbolton, Iowa), 5. Jerry Carraher (Spalding), 6. Tony Klassen (Lindsay), 7. John Becker (Cumberland, Iowa), 8. Arvid Janzen (Henderson), 9. Wayne Cheney (Bennet), 10. Victor Johnson (York), 11. Harold Grossnicklaus (Shelby), 12. Eugene Jochim (Raymond), 13. Anthony Winter (Broken Bow).
• Senior men 50-up — 1. Cloid Farley (Elkhorn, Iowa), 2. Mark Allen (Blair), 3. William Gentrup (West Point), 4. Vernon Curtis (Milford), 5. Gerald Vering (Howells), 6. Wilford Wiese (Howells), 7. Jerald Bergman (Omaha), 8. David Swartz (Milford), 9. Rich Beversdorf (McCool Junction), 10. Maynard Gress (Hordville), 11. Scott Japp (Arlington), 12. Jim Witte (Louisville), 13. Arnold Otte (Ft. Calhoun), 14. Harold Renken (York), 15. Alan Hoagland (Hastings), 16. Jim Green (Bradshaw).
• Youth boys 20-under — 1. Lyndon Klassen (Lindsay), 2. Ben Turek (Gibbon), 3. Paul Turek (Gibbon), 4. Chris Vering (Columbus), 5. Nolan Turek (York).
• Youth girls 20-under — 1. Karissa Kraenow (Gibbon), 2. Beckah Spader (Waco), 3. Brandy Vering (Columbus), 4. Emilie Turek (York), 5. Brianna Kraenow (Gibbon), 6. Jessica Turek (Gibbon).
• Women age 50-up — 1. Marlene Otte (Ft. Calhoun), 2. Deb Meyer (Hordville), 3. Debbie Doolittle (Cortland), 4. Bonnie Vering (Howells), 5. Rotha Keuten (Trumbull).
• Celebrity pick — 1. Bob Sautter and Stuart Sikes, 2. Charlie Hoffman and Mark Jensen, 3. Paul Toms and Doug Deprez, 4. Diane Wolfe and Barry Redfern, 5. Arnie Stuthman and Roger Wherbein, 6. Phil Johansen and Greg Adams, 7. Vickie McDonald and Larry Harnisch, 8. Kurt Bulgrin and Steve Neujahr, 9. Rick Sheehy and Richard Baier, 10. Don Sandman and Dale Radcliff.
• Novice — 1. J.W. Bergman, Jr., (Valley), 2. Deb Vering (Columbus), 3. Brittany Quiring (Henderson), 4. Isabelle Vanderneck (Henderson).
• Men 21-49 — 1. Riley Guthrie (Alma), 2. Jerry Guthrie (Alma), 3. Kevin Kraenow (Gibbon), 4. Paul Klassen (Lindsay), 5. John Weeder (Elkhorn), 6. Robert Braden (Firth), 7. Lance Laner (Gothenburg), 8. Kevin Vering (Columbus).
• Women 21-49 — 1. Ayme Barry (Raymond), 2. Laura Tobiassen (Hildreth).
• Women’s open — 1. Martha Allen (Blair), 2. Bonnie Burhoop (Goehner).
• Men’s open — 1. Wayne Guthrie (Ragan), 2. Joe Turek (Gibbon), 3. Alvin Christensen (Allen), 4. Ted Martin (Arlington), 5. Robert Barry (Raymond), 6. Sherman Hirsch (North Platte).

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