It's a Wisconsin State Fair favorite: New Berlin Lions Club celebrates 60 years of roasted corn

MILWAUKEE -- Those who eat their way through the Wisconsin State Fair usually have roasted corn on their list of "must haves." The New Berlin Lions Club this year is celebrating 60 years of roasted corn at the Wisconsin State Fair.

"This is a hybrid sweet corn that`s grown specifically for us here in Wisconsin by a farmer out in Palmyra, Paulsen Farms. The corn is picked fresh every day, brought into a cooler and it`s refrigerated -- and overnight they bring it into the fair and we refrigerate it here. That's why our corn is so sweet, because it is literally like it was just picked out of the field and cooked," Dave Abstetar, New Berlin Lions Club president said.

The corn is roasted over a fire, so the sugars at the ends of the kernels can caramelize for even more flavor, which customers like Joanie Thorsen love!

"It was delicious, sweet, not too hot -- so you can eat it right away. It`s good to get vegetables in before you start all the others, so we walked past the creme puffs -- just bypassed it, and went straight for the corn instead," Thorsen said.

You can get the roasted corn on the cob and in the cup.

While this roasted corn has been around at the Wisconsin State Fair for 60 years, Betty Johnson has been a volunteer for 42 of those years.

"And we give this money back to the blind and seeing impaired. It all goes back to the community," Johnson said.

"Over the years, since the club was founded, we raised over $6 million to give to the community," Abstetar said.

Victoria Conrad volunteered on Thursday, along with family members and friends -- doing whatever it takes to help raise money for the Special Olympics of Wisconsin.

"I`m doing a lot of different things. I shuck corn, or sell corn or wipe down tables," Conrad said.

"We`re glad we can please a lot of people that are at the fair and we also do so much good for the people that need help," Johnson said.

In 2015, the New Berlin Lions Club's corn roast at the fair served more than 180,000 ears of corn, and more than one ton of butter was used!