By Don Corrigan
(photos/video: Magnificent Missouri)
The Sweet Corn Sunday Celebration on Aug. 10, 2025, held along the Katy Trail at Treloar in the Missouri River Valley, had special significance this year:
• The 2025 hoedown marked the fifth anniversary for this event.
• It was well-attended, despite a noisy, flashy Midwest thunderstorm.
• Visitors took tram rides on the trail from Treloar to Marthasville.
• The event inspired a YouTube based on Sweet Corn Sunday.
The YouTube video highlights the economic regeneration of small river towns, thanks to the presence of the Katy Trail and the efforts of Magnificent Missouri.
A preview of cinematic things to come for the iconic river valley and its celebrations, this new video can an enjoyed by going to this web link:
This year’s Sweet Corn Sunday encompassed and included three small towns: Treloar, Marthasville, and Peers, all villages along the Katy Trail in Missouri.
The event celebrated the area’s agricultural heritage with locally grown sweet corn, bratwurst, bluegrass music, and Katy Trail tram rides. Guests had the opportunity to visit a vertical log structure, check out native trees, and explore the historic Katy Depot in Marthasville.
Sweet Corn Sunday is a community event that began in Treloar in 2020, to celebrate a long-standing, rich agricultural heritage. Historic landmarks for admiration included the giant Treloar Grain Elevator.
Also enjoyed were the Ted and Pat Jones Welcome Center, the Farmers Bank building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), the Burkhardt Grove trees of Treloar, and the Treloar Trailhead for the Katy Trail.
Treloar embodies the story of a town that anticipated the arrival of the KATY Railroad in 1896 with much fanfare and success. Treloar thrived as a prosperous farming community, experienced economic downturns, and is revived today as a must-see stop along Missouri’s longest state park – the Katy Trail.
From 2020 to 2024, Sweet Corn Sunday involved two communities in southern Warren County, Treloar, and Peers about 3.5 miles to the east. Missouri State Parks provided a tram to take attendees on a narrated tour down the trail.
Festival participants in 2025 could again take the tram, or opt to cycle or walk on the trail to Peers. At Peers, guests visited the Peers Store which was built in 1896, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They also walked and photographed the Peers Prairie.
The Marthasville Trailhead is located close to where Lewis and Clark stopped twice with their Corps of Discovery. At Marthasville, guests were able to visit a vertical log structure at the La Charrette historical marker, a large active grain elevator next to the Trail, and check out native trees.
Folk music for Sweet Corn Sunday was heard in all three locations. The Marthasville Volunteer Fire Department grilled bratwursts and served sweet, buttered corn in Treloar.
More Good News!
There is more good news coming for the Katy Trail in the verdant Missouri River Valley, covering land from Defiance on the east to the German settlement of Hermann on the west.
Photographer Diana Linsley and journalist Don Corrigan will complete a book on Scenic Missouri to be published by Reedy Press at the end of 2025. More than 80 state nature sites will be covered in the new book.
Several of the sites in the new book are in the river valley area heralded by the Magnificent Missouri organization. These sites include locations near Augusta and Hermann, as well as along the Katy Trail.
A new Katy Trail park is included in the upcoming book. Grand Bluffs, north of Hermann, is attracting visitors for its prime location to view the Missouri River, its wetlands, its bottomland forests, and its awesome, towering bluffs
The deck atop the high dolomite bluffs was installed in 2003. From the sturdy 300-foot overlook, views can span 20 or 30 miles on a clear day.
Bicyclists who do a “wine crawl” among the vineyards of Augusta and Hermann, are learning to love the Grand Bluffs stop. It’s a lovely area to enjoy along the lengthy Katy Trail.
And, of course, Treloar, Peers, and Marthasville are beautiful rest stops as well for Katy Trail travelers to enjoy as they navigate from Augusta to Grand Bluffs near Hermann.
Environmental Echo 