Monday, July 15, 2024
Local Couple Host Final ‘Cornfest’ and Flamingo Race
John and Beth Forthofer, Shelbyville, host their final championship race for the National Flamingo Racing Association. | photos by CAROL MCDANIEL
by CAROL MCDANIEL, M.A.
The outdoor festivities begin with a fly-over. The children attending the event, along with the adult “pilot,” fly balsa wood airplanes from the upstairs deck over the crowd. Does this remind you of another sporting event that also involves a fly-over?
Then, as four contestants line up to begin the first “heat,” everyone yells loudly…. “ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, FLAMINGO!” Each heat begins this way.
That signals the beginning of the heat races for the annual championship of the NFRA (that is, the National Flamingo Racing Association). Nationals were held recently at the home of John and Beth Forthofer, Shelbyville. This is the end of an era because this was the last race the Forthofers will host.
I bet you didn’t even know this annual race was taking place. John is one of the part-time drivers for Shelby Senior Services, Inc. Beth is a retired teacher.
Contestants include everyone, even the children. If you wanted to race, you were assigned a spot on the “heat” board. Almost every one of the 150 people attending this last event signed up.
It all started in 1981 when John Forthofer had a bumper crop of sweet corn in his garden and decided that this would be a good time to get the family together and have a “Cornfest.” “Cornfest” caught on and began to expand into games and contests for family and friends. Thus began the annual Cornfest extravaganza.
John’s brother had made “birds” in shop class at school and John morphed these into marionettes for a new game. He began making flamingo bodies and feet out of wood and decided on thin rope to be used as legs and necks. He also fashioned crossed sticks that allowed the appendages to bob up and down and “walk” with the aid of the contestant. He then assembled the materials for each flamingo and put them into a plastic bag. He invited those who wanted to attend to create their own version of a racing flamingo and decorate the birds any way they wanted.
My flamingo was decorated as a dancing ballerina named Flossie, complete with an eyelet tutu, long ribbon curls and painted toes. Others chose famous people or sports figures such as Larry Bird. The array of clever decorations always brought a smile or a laugh when people saw the birds on display before each match.
The Forthofers are very competitive. At first they raced across carpet, but that didn’t work too well. So, John created wooden lanes for the flamingos to “walk” along. However, that didn’t work very well, either, because contestants were not following the rules. One had to start over if they went off course. Of course, no one wanted to confess they had gone off course.
Finally, John came up with a foolproof idea. He lined the lanes with copper, fastened copper onto the flamingo feet and installed lane bumpers. A thin copper wire is attached to a battery at the finish line of each lane and if someone veers off the lane, a light and buzzer goes off, signaling the contestant has to start over!
Soon the flamingo races became the main attraction of Cornfest! The Forthofers and their family originally thought about moving the races to May. However, they didn’t want to overshadow the Indy 500, they said.
In 1985, the official races began with a trophy, a championship year T-shirt, the champion’s picture on the wall in the Forthofer basement and bragging rights for a year.
This year, the Forthofers have decided to make this the last Cornfest. Former champions, their families and friends who have attended over the years came in droves. Beth Forthofer estimated the crowd at 150 or more. She explained that the “heat” sign up board has room for at least 130 names, which was full, which didn’t include the family members and other friends who did not race.
“I have been coming since 1991. I got a T-shirt and a chalice of milk,” the 1991 champion, Andy Skinner, Fishers, said.
He further explained you can only win once. “If you want to compete again, you must race with a big-foot bird, which is very difficult.”
Susan Thompson began attending in 1989. She lives in The Villages in Florida and timed her two-month visit to Indiana around Cornfest.
“I first came when John lived in town. He had a smaller yard then, only about one-third the size of this one. We come (here) in July; it’s the thing to do,” Susan said.
Champion Evan Forshee came down from Indianapolis. “It is great corn!”
Seventeen champions, sporting their Cornfest champion year T-shirts came to celebrate the last hoorah! The champions pictured (see below) are Nicole Wilds, Andy Forthofer, Emma Forthofer, Tia Forthofer, Cassie Forthofer Shell, Dan Wilhelm, Howard Forthofer, David Wilhelm, Michael Forthofer, Drew Skinner, Andy Skinner, Tammy Forthofer, Evan Forshee, Jessica Fish, Christy Eckstein, Vince Sanders and Marty Tormoehlen.
According to Beth, even though she and John are retired, they haven’t totally given up entertaining with the flamingos. They are exploring the idea of continuing to accept special occasions dates with flamingo races for organizations and social events.
SHELBY SUNSET
Last night’s sunset is visible from the west side of Shelbyville. | photo by JACK BOYCE
NOTEBOOK:
HOOSIER NEWS: Destiny Wells, the first candidate who announced her intention to run against Republican incumbent Todd Rokita in November’s election, is officially the Democratic nominee for Indiana’s attorney general. During Saturday’s 2024 Indiana Democratic Party Convention, delegates chose Wells as the Democratic nominee for the state’s attorney general position. Wells, an attorney and combat veteran who serves as the deputy chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, announced her candidacy for attorney general in November 2023. Wells previously ran as the Democratic candidate for Indiana’s secretary of state position in 2022, losing to Republican Diego Morales at that time. (Fox59)
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This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: Despite a downturn for gaming in Indiana, Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville continued to report strong profits. The casino had reported $20.3 million in June 2014, above the $18.3 million adjusted gross revenue reported in June 2013.
2004: The Shelbyville Eagles, 20 E. Franklin St., celebrated its 100th anniversary with a special event featuring Duke Tumatoe and The Power Trio.
1994: Della Merrill, the last living charter member of Shelbyville First Church of the Nazarene, turned 100. In 1919, Merrill had washed and ironed clothes and went door-to-door to ask for donations. She and 12 friends raised $500 to build a church at Noble and Jackson streets. All 13 of them had been part of a tent meeting that preceded the founding of the church.
1984: The city was receiving numerous phone calls to protest a new 25-cent surcharge on sewage bills. The charge had been added to help pay for improvements to the city’s infrastructure - its streets, sidewalks and sewers.
1974: Pfc. Patricia Meltzer, Rushville, was sworn into the Second Battalion, 152 Mechanized Infantry. She was married to Sgt. George Meltzer, a former Shelbyville resident. Pfc. Meltzer was the first female enlistee in the National Guard’s mechanized battalion and one of the first in the state for any combat-designated unit.
The Shelbyville Vikings captured top honors in the Great Lakes Roller Hockey League. Team members were David Hampton, Mark Tomlinson, Jimmy Walcott, Roger Price, Rob Snyder, Barr Kauffman, Brian Harley, Mike Bennett, Matt Tomlinson, Mark Price, Danny Adams and Bobby Cox. David Adams was coach.
Thomas K. Debaun was promoted to first deputy in the Sheriff’s Department, succeeding C. Richard Allendar, who relinquished the position after seven years.
1964: Siebert Oldsmobile won state-wide honors in a sales contest. Siebert had sold more cars over its assigned quota than any other Olds dealership in the state. Gilbert and Donald Siebert and their wives were treated to an all-expenses-paid vacation in Las Vegas.
There had been 280 marriages and 263 divorces in Shelby County in the prior year, county officials said.
1954: Four Gray Ladies of the Red Cross were honored for their hundreds of hours of volunteer service: Louise Fisher, Miriam Knoebel, Mrs. J.E. Haywood, Mrs. Harry McClain and Margaret Hatmaker.
Four local men were inducted into military service following the latest draft round: Norman Rouse, Jerry Fleming, Robert Heck and Carl Adams.
Spring Hill Road residents met at Bradley Hall’s residence and agreed to seek annexation.
A group of local “old-timers” managed by Charlie Yanzer agreed to play a seven-inning softball game against Joe’s Glass Bar “colored team” at Kennedy Park. The “old-timers” included Fred McComas, Earl “Tubby” Davis, Carl Rogers, Roy Copple, Roland Patterson, Ted Wainscott, Charles McComas, Delva Spurlin, Wilbur McComas, Russ and Fay Kirby, Fred and Bob Hauk, Harold Ewick, Dale Thurston, Pete Ray, Bill House and Glen Losey. Charle Bass and Archie Vaughn coached the Glass Bar team.
1944: Embers from a trash fire caused a blaze that destroyed Wayne Fansler’s garage in Mt. Auburn.
1934: A state official report said, “in the matter of cleanliness, the (Shelby County) jail is, indeed, deficient.”
Several local boys attended Camp Crosley on Lake Tippecanoe near Warsaw: “Bud” Munger, Junior Smith, Richard Wagner, Don Hilligoss, James VanPelt, James Ellis, Jack Ellis, Bob Brunner, James Custer, Mark Sullivan, Bob Haehl, Thatcher Edwards, Jay Deitzer, Phil Gutting, Stanley Faulkner, Murphy Cassady, Paul Gutting, John Stewart, Donald Brunner, Robert Eberhart, Tom Nickell, Jarvis Ferguson and Richard Pell.
1924: A report said that the local library had more than 44,000 books in circulation. Librarian Bertha Bowlby reported 12,395 people had used the library for reading and studying over the previous year.
1914: City staff cut weeds in Rayville. The paper said some of the weeds were at such a height that, one day later, they had “not yet fallen to the ground after being cut.”
OBITUARIES
None today.