ARCOLA – If you have a broom with plastic or nylon bristles and it's not cleaning your floor satisfactorily, there's a good reason for that. “Run your hand backward on this,” said broomcorn grower Tim Monahan, indicating a sheaf of broom corn on display. “Feel those hairs? That's what picks up the dirt.
” The broom-making tent at the Arcola Broomcorn Festival was a busy place on Saturday. Watching while Javier Alvarez demonstrated how to make a broom — a time-consuming process, though he has it down pat — clearly fascinated all the visitors. Nobody walked by without stopping to watch Avlarez work.
Tim Monahan, left, and Darrel Thompson grow broomcorn for the festival and are happy to answer questions about the process. The annual festival continues on Sunday, with a free concert at 2 p.m.
by Drake Milligan, an up-and-coming country singer who has appeared on “America's Got Talent.” Angie Miller, executive director of the Arcola Chamber of Commerce, cautioned concert-goers to avoid scam artists trying to sell tickets to that show: It's free. "America's Got Talent" finalist Drake Milligan is scheduled to perform a free concert at 2 p.
m. Sunday at the Broomcorn Festival in Arcola. “Arcola is known as the broomcorn capital of the world,” Miller said.
“It grows on a stalk, and looks like a regular stalk of corn (minus the ears). We used to harvest a lot of it in Arcola, but most of the production went to Mexico. We still honor our tradition with the craft br.