Great spud draws spec-taters
Kaylee Wells, left, and Melissa Bradford, stand in front of the Great Big Idaho Potato on Tuesday in front of Oldtown Super 1. This year, the gigantic spud will travel down the west coast on its way to Texas. Visit potatotracker.com to keep up with this tuber's summer adventure.
The Great Big Idaho Potato started its 2021 tour in Billings, Mont. on June 30. It is on an adventure to Texas along the west coast. The larger-than-life spud tours for six months of the year, and resides in Boise during the off season.
The Great Big Idaho Potato started its 2021 tour in Billings, Mont. on June 30. It is on an adventure to Texas along the west coast. The larger-than-life spud tours for six months of the year, and resides in Boise during the off season.
The Great Big Idaho Potato started its 2021 tour in Billings, Mont. on June 30. It is on an adventure to Texas along the west coast. The larger-than-life spud tours for six months of the year, and resides in Boise during the off season.
The Great Big Idaho Potato started its 2021 tour in Billings, Mont. on June 30. It is on an adventure to Texas along the west coast. The larger-than-life spud tours for six months of the year, and resides in Boise during the off season.
▶️ Listen to this article now.
OLDTOWN – The Great Big Idaho Potato stopped at the Super 1 in Oldtown on Tuesday.
Spec-taters and community members took photos with the larger-than-life-sized spud in the parking lot of the grocery store on the Idaho-Washington border.
Super 1 provided free hot dogs and gave bags of Idaho potatoes to those in attendance.
Melissa Bradford drives the truck across the country with team member Kaylee Wells along for the journey, calling themselves “the tater team.” The two of them, along with stuffed friend “Milo” travel across the U.S. for about six months out of the year.
This year’s tour began at Mooyah Burger in Billings, Montana, on June 30. The tater team plans on traveling down the west coast on their way to Texas.
The Great Big Idaho Potato, which spends the off-season in Boise, was created in 2012 to commemorate the Idaho Potato Commission’s 75th anniversary. Intrigue about the 28-by-ten-foot “potato” continues to raise awareness about Idaho potatoes.
“This is a golden opportunity, Bradford said Tuesday. “We get to see and do unusual things.”
Composed of steel and fiberglass, the massive potato weighs four tons, and stands at 11 feet tall.
Those who came to see the spectacle got out of their cars to take photos with the potato, enjoy a hotdog, and take a bag of smaller sized spuds for the road.
“We decided we’d give away some potatoes and hot dogs,” said Frank Haynes, general manager of Oldtown Super 1. Haynes stood in the shade of a pop-up gazebo for three hours cooking hot dogs and passing out bags of Idaho potatoes to celebrate the occasion.
The Great Big Idaho Potato moved to Athol, and then Post Falls after leaving Oldtown on Tuesday.
Visit idahopotato.com and search ‘Great Big Idaho Potato’ for more information about the origins of this tremendous tuber. If you want to track the potato on it’s national adventure, visit potatotracker.com
