As Sparboe Farms celebrates six successful decades of business, the Litchfield-based company is also celebrating another accomplishment — being named the grand marshal of its hometown celebration, Watercade.
And it isn’t only one or two of the head honchos being honored, it is all of Sparboe’s employees.
“It’s so quirky. It’s not just Beth Schnell and Wayne Carlson — It’s the entire company,” said Sparboe Farms President Beth Schnell, referring to herself and Senior Vice President Wayne Carlson.
Schnell said she is honored Sparboe Farms was selected as grand marshal.
“The community has been very supportive of Sparboe over the years and we’re proud to be residents and have our corporate offices in Litchfield,” said Schnell, who grew up in Litchfield. “It’s a really wonderful community.”
The late Bob Sparboe, Schnell’s father, founded Sparboe Farms in 1954 in Litchfield. Watercade Board members nominated Sparboe Farms as grand marshal this year because of their community service over the past 60 years, said Watercade Chairperson Sue Koll.
“We chose Sparboe simply because of the contributions they make to the city of Litchfield and the surrounding communities,” Koll said. “They’re just a huge part of this community and we feel they should be recognized for that.”
Schnell said more than 80 Sparboe Farms employees have signed up to participate in or volunteer at Watercade events.
“Sparboe has always supported the Watercade activities, but this year, because of our 60th anniversary, we’ve formed a committee to make sure we’re sponsoring it in a bigger way than we normally do,” Schnell said.
A fun addition to Watercade this year is Sparboe Farms’ “Egg on a Stick” at 12 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at Lake Ripley Memorial Park. Sparboe Farms employees will be handing out free hard-boiled eggs on a pretzel before the Little Crow Ski Team performance.
“We’ve got a good group of employees to hand those out,” Schnell said, adding, “We’ve really encouraged our employees and their families to get engaged with Watercade because it’s such a great community event.”
Copyright 2014 Litchfield Independent Review/Crow River Media/Media News Group.