More hard luck for Hamburg: Popcorn plant to close
Hamburg still will celebrate Popcorn Day this fall, even if the Fremont County city will soon be making a lot less popcorn.
ConAgra Foods, the Omaha conglomerate, plans to close the microwave popcorn plant in Hamburg by the end of October, company officials announced Thursday. The move ends 95 jobs. A bulk popcorn processing plant with 45 jobs will remain.
Hamburg is a city of about 1,200 people. Popcorn Day, held annually since 1960, usually coincides with the Hamburg High School homecoming on the first Saturday after Labor Day. But the 2011 edition, set for Sept. 10, will be at least a partial farewell to an industry that dates to 1943.
"You never want to lose any business," said John Sheldon, a Hamburg real estate agent who helps organize Popcorn Day for the local Kiwanis Club. "We're fighting the same battle that every small town is. Businesses seem to be attracted to the bigger cities."
The news comes during tough times. Hamburg High School will begin grade sharing with nearby Farragut this school year because of a heavy district debt load. The grocery store closed in January.
Missouri River flooding forced 250 people from their homes. Washed-out portions of Interstate Highway 29 and other roads practically cut off the city from the rest of the world.
A thunderstorm blew through town Wednesday night after popcorn plant workers learned their jobs were ending. Winds damaged trees and wrecked area crops not already underwater.
"There wasn't a yard in town that didn't have a tree limb down in it," said Nancy Buckalew, a Hamburg resident. "It's just one thing after another."
Brothers Alex and Art Vogel, who moved to Hamburg after floods forced them from their Missouri farm, founded the popcorn plant in 1943.
The business blossomed into a global bulk popcorn processor, growing more than half the nation's popcorn, according to ConAgra's website.
Popcorn Day was an outgrowth from Peonies Days, which honored Hamburg's history as a perennial plant producer.
In 1988, the Vogel family sold the business to Golden Valley, which was acquired by ConAgra in 1992.
The soon-to-be-shuttered plant produces microwave popcorn for ConAgra's Act II and Orville Redenbacher brands.
The announcement comes at a time when microwave popcorn sales were down, creating excess production capacity, said ConAgra spokeswoman Teresa Paulsen.
"It's never a good time to close a plant," Paulsen said. "We have a lot of empathy for our employees there and what they've gone through this summer. We're working with each of them on the transition.
The History Of Popcorn - News
The business blossomed into a global bulk popcorn processor, growing more than half the nation's popcorn, according to ConAgra's website. Popcorn Day was an outgrowth from Peonies Days, which honored Hamburg's history as a perennial plant producer.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of bottled water and popcorn benefits Voices for Children of Howard County, a group that works to make sure that abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes. There's work going on at the old Post
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Newspapers described vendors selling hot dogs, popcorn and drinks. "Every bar was packed to the doors. Down the main street tipsy merrymakers rollicked all night. 'Hanging parties' were held in many a home," Time magazine reported in an Aug.
History of Popcorn - Orville Redenbacher Facts - Delish.com
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Posted by Justine Sterling Justine Sterling never had a chance. The first thing in her mouth after she was born was not her mother's milk but her father's finger after having been dipped in sparkling wine. Growing up in Northern California she foraged for wild lettuce and frequently presented her parents with concoctions she called "spritzers." Though she tried to deny it while in college, food and wine kept sneaking into her writing. It wasn't long before she gave in and moved to one of the world's foremost culinary Meccas. Now based in Brooklyn, New York, she seeks out culinary oddities (live octopus has been a favorite) and is always on the lookout for that perfect martini. Since moving to New York and gaining her master's in journalism from New York University, Justine has written for publications such as Meatpaper , Time Out New York , and The New York Post . In her spare time she schemes up plans to ferment her own beer and enjoys quick pickling.
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Don't buy the house without asking for its history. Don't camp in the middle of f-ing nowhere. Last one: popcorn.
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