Dr. Robert McCrory Remembers Tater Day
Written by Justin D. Lamb
Lt. Governor Harry Lee Waterfield (second from right) visited Tater Day in 1963.
Celebrated on the first Monday in April, Tater Day has been a Marshall County tradition since 1843 when local farmers came to Benton to trade sweet potatoes to boost local agriculture. The event eventually developed into a festive trade day and is now regarded as one of the oldest celebrations of its kind.
Dr. Robert McCrory, a longtime Kiwanian, helped charter the Benton Kiwanis Club and through his work with the Kiwanis Club, McCrory was directly responsible for helping revive the Tater Day celebration in the 1960s. “By the early ‘60s Tater Day was fading. I came to town about that time and I had heard so much about Tater Day and was disappointed at how the festival had faded,” Dr. McCrory recalled. “The Kiwanis Club formed a committee to plan new activities for the revival,” McCrory said.
The committee led by Dr. McCrory and Burl Flatt planned a day of celebration complete with a beauty pageant and a parade featuring antique cars, buggies, and vintage farm equipment. Attenders wore old fashioned costumes and later in the day an auction was held with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Kiwanis Club.
Men were encouraged to grow their facial hair for beard contests, too. “I hated the beard contest,” McCrory said. “The reason was because I would stop shaving in January, but by April, I still wouldn’t have much of a beard,” McCrory quipped.
Tater Day offered a horse show at the racetrack at Benton Park. “We had people come from all around to participate in the horse races and mule pulls,” McCrory recalled. The parades in the beginning were led by one of Marshall County’s last World War I veterans. “For the first three years Estel Copeland, an old World War I vet, led the parade,” McCrory recalled. “He had a beautiful black buggy and a big black stocking footed horse to pull it with.”
By the late 1960s, the Kiwanis began selecting Grand Marshals to lead the parade. “We started selecting Grand Marshals in hopes that the person chosen would bring their families and it would increase the crowd size,” McCrory recalled.
Steadily through the years the crowds increased and the festivities grew. “We have drawn some big names at times, too,” McCrory said. “Country star Porter Waggoner came one year and put on a good show.”
In 2006, McCrory published a book about the complete history of Tater Day. “Tater Day is not as big as it once was but I am glad to see this traditional part of Marshall County still around.”