Corn Shuckers 2020

July may be mean backyard cookouts, swimming pools and summer vacations to many people. At Maple Mount, a July tradition is harvesting sweet corn from the farm.

The first day of 2020 cutting, shucking and preparing the sweet corn to eat came on July 27, when the small dining room was converted into a well-run machine of good-natured corn processing. Ursuline Sisters who are available take their turns working alongside the Food Service staff and the Vietnamese sisters who live on campus while attending Brescia University.

Here are some photos from July 27, 2020:

The Team Tipmore Table is led by Sister Melissa Tipmore, seated at left, joined by Sister Mary Henning, center, Sister Nancy Liddy, right, and Sister Marie Joseph Coomes, with her back to the camera.
Sister Amelia Stenger, left, and Sister Elaine Burke work to fill another bucket of corn as Sister Catherine Kaufman, right, is on shucking duty.
The New Mexico-Kentucky Corn Consortium makes progress at this table. Sister Sara Marie Gomez, seated, and Sister Michael Ann Monaghan, left, served a combined 64 years in New Mexico as teachers or parish ministers. They are joined by Sister Ann Patrice Cecil, center, and Sister Amanda Rose Mahoney, who spent the majority of their ministry years serving in Kentucky, along with a dash of Nebraska (Sister Ann Patrice) and Missouri (Sister Amanda Rose).
Melody Payne, left, director of Food Services at the Mount, and staff member Samantha Taylor show the corn who is boss. Corn preparation will likely take place for days.
Sister Rose Jean Powers, left, and Sister Shelia Anne Smith, right, fill a can with corn shucks, as Sister Luisa Bickett (background) works with Sister Thoa Phan, a Dominican Sister from Vietnam.
Necessity can quickly turn the small dining room into a corn assembly room that Ford Motors would appreciate.
Food Service employee Mario Palmer gets some help from Sister Lang Hoang to dump another bucket of fresh corn on the table, as Sister Hang Nguyen, left, awaits. In the background is Sister Trang Le. The Vietnamese sisters were chopping the ends off the corn to prepare it for shucking.
Sister Alicia Coomes, left, and Sister Emma Anne Munsterman empty a pan of sweet corn into a bucket to be taken to the kitchen. The corn is blanched, frozen and served to the Ursuline Sisters and staff throughout the year at mealtimes.
The batch of corn that arrived the next day.