When is National Corn Dog Day?
National Corndog Day is a celebration of basketball, the corn dog, tater tots, and Dr. Pepper and Sunkist that occurs in March of every year on the first Saturday of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. National Corndog Day 2009 took place on Saturday, March 21st, 2009.(1)
What is a Corn Dog?
The corn dog, pogo, dagwood dog, wobo, pluto pup, mercury mutt, krusty pup, or corny dog is a hotdog coated in batter and deep fried in oil, although some are baked. Almost all corn dogs are served on wooden sticks, though some early versions were stickless.
History
National Corndog Day was inaugurated in 1992 in Corvallis, Oregon by high-school students Brady Sahnow and Henry Otley. The first celebration was informal and involved simply corndogs and basketball. In subsequent years, National Corndog day was expanded to include tater tots and beer and gradually spread to other cities. The celebration currently is sponsored by Foster Farms, a Livingston, California-based poultry producer, and PBR, a US Midwest-based beer company, and Jones Soda. Operations for National Corndog Day currently are governed by a board of directors consisting of select event hosts (or "city captains") based in various cities across the United States.
Annual Celebration
By 2007, parties celebrating National Corndog Day occurred at 113 locations in more than 30 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Australia. In 2008 National Corndog Day exploded, expanding to nearly 5000 parties.(2) on five continents, including one at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. In 2009 participation fell back to the trend line from the 2008 peak, with nearly 400 parties around the country on March 21, 2009. (3)
National Corndog Day is a celebration of basketball, the corn dog, Tater Tots, and American beer that occurs in March of every year on the first Saturday of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
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Fun Food Fact:
Battered Sausages are a type of cuisine, found all across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. They are similar in concept to a corn dog, but consist of a pork sausage, dipped in batter, (usually the same batter used to batter fish, as they are primarily sold from fish and chips shops), and usually served with chips.
Holidays to remember
•The American Farm Bureau Foundation's Dates to Celebrate Agriculture calendar includes a "National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day" to be observed every April 24th.
•What is the most popular condiment for corn dogs & hot dogs? Council research shows that for adults, mustard (see National Mustard Day) is the condiment of choice, while children prefer ketchup.
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External links
References
Mary Ann Albright, "Corndog Buffs Have Their Day," Corvallis Gazette-Times (Corvallis, Oregon), March 16, 2007, Top Story, Pg. 1.
Ricardo Baca, "Why I adore the lowly corn dog", Denver Post (Denver, CO), March 15, 2006, Sec. Food and Dining, [2].
Staff, "Don't wait for the state fair to come back; make your own corn dogs", Anchorage Daily News, October 1, 2003, Sec. Life, Pg. D2.
Su-Jin Yim, "Every Corndog Has Its (URP) Day", The Oregonian (Portland, OR), March 16, 2002, Sec. Living, Pg. CO1.
In Tidbits, The Gothamist, March 17, 2006 [3].
