Sept. 15, 2020
The long-awaited Farmers Bowl community celebration will be held Saturday, Sept. 26 in Mayville. The event which is hosted annually by the MSU Foundation and its partners celebrates the agricultural heritage of the Mayville-Portland and Traill County area. While the annual festivities will go on, there will be some changes related to the coronavirus pandemic. Keeping the members of the community safe is the top priority for organizers.
The day will begin with the Farmers Bowl parade which will form up in downtown Mayville, north of the Goose River Bank. To coincide with a later game start time, the parade will begin at noon this year. It will make its way through town on Main Street and end at Jerome Berg Field on the Mayville State campus. To register an entry in the parade, call 701-788-4864 or email stacy.buchl@mayvillestate.edu.
As a precautionary measure, parade entrants are asked not to throw out candy or giveaways. The MSU Foundation staff will be packaging goodie bags for kids that can be picked up near Jerome Berg Field following the parade. If you’d like to contribute to the bags, contact Stacy Buchl at stacy.buchl@mayvillestate.edu or 701-788-4864.
After the parade, everyone is welcome to enjoy corn on the cob and hot dogs which will be served on the lawn west of Jerome Berg Field. The Mayville State athletic teams and coaches are coordinating the corn and hot dog feed again this year. Freewill donations will be accepted. In the interest of safety related to the COVID-19 situation, food will be packaged for carry-out. Seating will not be provided.
The Farmers Bowl Silent Auction will be held in the parking lot outside of Jerome Berg Field. People are invited to begin bidding following the parade. The auction will close at the conclusion of half time of the Farmers Bowl game. Mayville State supporters have donated a wonderful assortment of auction items on which to bid. Don't miss out on the opportunity to have some fun and possibly win a treasure!
The Comets will host Dakota State in the Farmers Bowl football game. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. at Jerome Berg Field. The Comets will be wearing their commemorative Farmers Bowl helmets, which feature a wheat motif. Spectators are strongly encouraged to wear masks or cloth face coverings and practice social distancing.
The finale for Farmers Bowl 2020 will be the Comet Athletic Club Sportsmen’s Raffle and Farmers Bowl Silent Auction. In consideration of COVID-19 concerns and in an effort to be CometSmart, the Comet Athletic Club board has chosen to forego the in-person raffle event and instead broadcast the 50-gun giveaway drawing live on Facebook.
Instructions for how you may watch the 50-gun giveaway drawing will be at www.mayvillestate.edu/sportsmensraffle. A listing of items and instructions for how to participate in the online Farmers Bowl Silent Auction will be at www.mayvillestate.edu/farmersbowl.
Proceeds of the Farmers Bowl silent auction will benefit the students of Mayville State University through the work of Comet Athletics, the MSU Alumni Association, and the MSU Foundation. Proceeds of the Sportsmen’s Raffle will provide scholarship assistance to Mayville State’s student athletes via the Comet Athletic Club.
Many thanks are extended to First State Bank of Portland, Mayville, Grand Forks, Thompson, and Buxton, signature sponsor of Mayville State’s Farmers Bowl 2020, and to Steele Traill Co. Mutual Insurance for their sponsorship support as well.
Farmers Bowl 2020 will be a time to celebrate, but with precautions that will help to keep people safe and healthy. For more information about Farmers Bowl 2020, call 701-788-4864, email alumni.mail@mayvillestate.edu, or go to www.mayvillestate.edu/farmersbowl.