The 1996 Illinois State Morel Mushroom Hunting Championship
The response was overwhelming. We originally had leased the mushroom hunting rights at the site for the entire season. The site contains approximately 90 acres of timber which has been a productive site for morels. We anticipated no more than 400 entrants and thought the site was adequate for that many people given the time limit of 90 minutes. By mid March we had 100 entries with literally dozens arriving daily. Our projections indicated we would have 2000 by May. We then set a maximum number of entrants at 750 and arranged with an adjacent landowner for the use of an additional 60 acres of timber.
May 4 began with a slight sprinkle in Magnolia during registration. The contestants started arriving at 7:00 a.m. Geographically, 60 were from out of state (mostly from neighboring states, but some came from as far away as Arizona, Texas, and Massachusetts). Our oldest entrant was 90 while the youngest honor was shared by two 4 year-olds. One family of nine from Glenview spanned three generations.
At 9:30 a.m. 750 anxious mushroom hunters climbed on to 15 school busses without any idea as to where they were going. The 20 minute ride to the site was truly something to see. The starting siren sounded and the next 90 minutes were like a blur. Someone hollered "here's one" within 30 seconds. Surprisingly, she wasn't mobbed. We were afraid there may be some arguments, but that didn't happen. The only tense moment we had was when officials brought a contestant that had collapsed to the ambulance. He seemed so young to be having health problems. We later discovered that he had partied until 4:00 a.m. and then driven to the hunt. He was exhausted!
John Husar of The Chicago Tribune described the day perfectly on the return to Magnolia when he said, "For all the reputation mushroom hunters have for being deceitful and devious, this was the most congenial crowd I've ever seen. This wasn't a competition - this was a celebration!"
Once back in Magnolia, it took about 30 minutes to count the mushrooms. Phillip Gariboldi of Joliet became the first ever Illinois State Morel Mushroom Hunting Champion with 293. He won $100 and a trophy. Second place went to Mike Hanley of Kickapoo with 223 ($50), and Scott Volk of Hudson was third with 190($25). Trophies were also given to Clem Hartke of Dietrich for finding the largest mushroom and Dawn Jones of Chillicothe for finding the smallest mushroom.
The day then continued with the mushroom auction. We had sent requests to mushroom hunters to bring in any extras in half-pound packages. Much to everyone's amazement, the average price was $36.36! That's $72.00 per pound. Even the firms growing them indoors out-of-season don't get quite that much.
Then Mr. Stan Tekiela, a naturalist and author of "Start Mushrooming", held an open discussion and slide show for anyone interested. The children in attendance were entertained by a petting zoo. Several other mushroom experts conducted mushroom tours. They took busses of interested people out to mushroom patches near Magnolia to show them some of the finer points of "shroomin".
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Write us at: Morel Mania, R.R. 1 - Box 42, Magnolia, IL 61336 (USA)
Phone: 309-364-3319
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