Everyone in Webster (and Penfield, Ontario, and Walworth) is in a dither about where to buy sweet corn this year. For years we all stopped on the way home from work at one of the Wilberts’ corn stands on Salt Rd. or Rte. 250 or Atlantic Ave. I even know one person who admitted to driving from stand to stand to get the freshest corn. I guess the stand with the most corn would be the freshest. It always disappeared pretty fast. 

The first sign of trouble was the sight of the corn stands themselves for sale on the Wilberts’ lawn. The second sign was the sight of something other than corn growing on the Wilberts’ farmland. Everybody’s talking about it. “Mr. Wilbert’s retiring,” or “Wilbert’s rotating crops.” The most discouraging word was this. “Wilbert gave up on corn because too many people were stealing from the stands.”  You see, Wilbert operated on the honor system. You drove up, selected your ears, and dropped the money in the box. Signs were posted, so there was no confusion about the price. So much per ear, and so much for a dozen.

There are other corn growers around and other corn stands that will probably be happy about an increase in business. Their corn may even taste sweet and tender. So why does this feel like a death in the family?