CULTURAL EVENTS IN MARSHALL COUNTY

TATER DAY      

Tater Day is an annual festival held on the first Monday in April. The celebration is over 100 years old. The original object of the day was for the farmers to "come to Benton" and trade everything that they could not afford to buy but had a need for in order to keep their households running and that included sweet potato slips to plant for the upcoming growing season. Farmers came by droves in wagons containing their wares as well as their families. While the men swapped the things they had too much of for things that they had too little of, their wives visited with other wives swapping recipes and needlework and the children played with other children many of whom they had not seen since last Tater Day. Even though they lived in very close proximity to each other, transportation in those days was not what it is today forcing families to live a very isolated life. It has now turned into a fun day including a parade complete with a "Grand Marshal", carnival rides, trading ring, and beauty contest naming one young lady "Miss Tater Day".