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Great Idaho Potato truck visits Mountain Home
A supersized symbol of Idaho's potato industry made a brief appearance in Mountain Home last week.
The Famous Idaho Potato Truck stopped at the Mountain Home Visitor's Center for about an hour on April 16 following a similar visit at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
The world's largest "potato on wheels" made the visit as a lead-in to the team's tour of the United States, which officially began Monday.
The truck and potato gained notoriety after they appeared in commercials featuring Idaho potato farmer Mark Coombs.
During those announcements, he asks Americans to help him locate the truck, which he claimed was missing after it set off on its cross-country tour several months ago.
In each instance, Coombs asks for help just as the truck passes behind him without drawing his attention.
More than 130 people packed into the Mountain Home Visitor's Center parking area to get an up-close look at the supersized spud.
"What a great turnout. This is awesome," said Laura Martin, a representative with the traveling group.
"We're so happy to see so many people," added Sue Kennedy, a spokesperson with the Idaho Potato Commission.
Annette Larona and her granddaughter, Justis, happened to see the truck hauling the 28-foot potato as it rolled down American Legion Boulevard.
"Somebody told us that it was coming up here (to the visitor's center), so we got into the car and came up," Larona said.
Carissa Kiesser learned about the visit from her fiance, who works at the Mountain Home Auto Ranch located just a short walk from the visitor's center.
"I got a text from him saying, 'Do you want to see a potato big enough to put on a semi trailer,' " she said. That was all it took to load up the children and make the short drive.
Michele Hall and her family were traveling back to their home in Jerome when they decided to stop in Mountain Home for lunch when they spotted the display.
"We pulled into the Wendy's parking lot, and I said that's the biggest potato I've ever seen," Hall said.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life. It's so heavy," said her son, A.J., as he got a closer look.
"I've seen (the truck) on T.V. as it passes through towns," said Autumn Harper, who simply wanted to actually see it in person. She got wind of the visit from her husband, Jeff, who owns a local potato farm.
People made their fair share of potato jokes as they walked around the truck with one individual referring to the crowd as "spec-taters."
"All we need now is the Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile," said Shannon Ivie.
Martin has seen firsthand the level of attention their unique traveling display creates.
"We have people that will follow us off the highway whenever we need to gas up," she said.
"You see it in pictures, but when you see it in real life, it's so dramatic," added Ivan Nanney, one of the ambassadors with the touring group.
In 2013, the truck made stops in 50 cities across the United States to raise awareness for the national Meals on Wheels program -- an effort that provides more than one million meals to homebound senior citizens every day.
This year, the Idaho potato ambassadors will promote heart healthy programs in conjunction with the American Heart Association and the Go Red for Women organization.
Martin and the traveling company get asked a lot of questions during their travels. Among them: How many people would this super spud actually feed?
"It depends on their appetite," Martin said.
Waiting to eat something this big would also require a lot of patience. According to the commission, it would take two years and nine months for something this large to bake in an oven.
Then there's the obvious question people ask whenever the truck makes a stop: Is the potato real?
While Martin enjoys gently teasing people, she reassures guests that it's not an actual potato. It was actually sculpted by a pair of artists from Boise, who crafted it from a special foam covered with a polymer concrete. A frame of steel beams holds everything together.
But the potato does have a little a secret. In addition to serving as a symbol of Idaho's potato industry, it's hollow interior doubles as a storage trailer for the team.
"Basically, it's our traveling garage and holds all the good stuff we'll need along the way," Nanney said.
The truck and its team left Idaho enroute to the Kentucky Derby and will continue across the country for the next five months.
Other stops along the team's 17,000-mile journey this year include a parade in Houston, Texas, that's expected to bring together more than 400,000 people.