Giant Ear Of Corn Is A Real Showstopper

Giant Ear Of Corn Is A Real Showstopper FARM HOME Novelty Items 20-6-23 Corn is king where Dale Ungerer lives. To underscore that point, the Hawkeye, Iowa, farmer last spring built a giant ear of corn out of plastic milk jugs and an old hay elevator. Word about the ear of corn spread quickly and it's since traveled over 3,000 miles to various Iowa fairs, community events and shows, including the recent Farm Progress Show in Amana, Iowa. Ungerer spent a year-and-a-half creating the 32-ft. long, 12-ft. dia. ear of corn which he calls the "Spirit of Iowa". That included months spent scrounging plastic milk jugs for "kernels" from the local recycling center, dumpsters, and anywhere else he could find them. "When the hay loft in the barn was full, I decided to start," Ungerer says. "I pulled a junked hay elevator out of the weeds to serve as the cob." He first built a wood frame around the elevator and covered it with chicken wire. He cut the 1,700 plastic jugs in half, punched holes in each side, and strung them up on the frame with "a mile or so" of old electric fence wire. Once in place, he spray painted the jugs yellow so they look just like dented kernels of corn. Christmas lights inside make the kernels glow in the dark. Ungerer surprised Hawkeye residents last June by secretly entering his ear of corn in the community's annual Fun Days parade. He and his giant ear got a standing ovation. Besides numerous shows, he's even received one inquiry from a California art gallery about displaying the ear of corn as a piece of folk art. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Ungerer, 23406 Quartz Road, Hawkeye, Iowa 52147 (ph 319 427-3467).

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