MARIETTA – The annual Corn Boilin’ has been hosted by the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office for the last 23 years and with this year being an election year, Sheriff Neil Warren anticipates it being one of their biggest.

The event, which will be held July 16 at 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Jim Miller Park off Callaway Road in Marietta, was started in 1990 by former Cobb County Sheriff Bill Hutson to help raise money for the Cobb County Youth Museum.

“He started this as a fundraiser because the Cobb County government discontinued supporting some of the arts,” said Warren, who took over the helm from Hutson in 2004. Since the mid-90s, the Corn Boilin has raised about $160,000 for the museum.

Anita Barton, the executive director of the museum, said the nearly $10,000 the fundraiser gives to her organization annually pays for tours for Title I schools or for children who can’t afford to come to the museum.

“We’re just delighted with all the support that they have given us during this time,” she said. “We enjoy working with them, and Sheriff Warren is just a wonderful person.”

The museum, which meets all the state standards for fourth graders’ social studies curriculum, helps students learn about the events leading up to the American Revolution from the battles to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“They dress in costumes and act out the history of the American Revolution,” Barton said. “It’s important for children to understand our past history because without that, they could make many mistakes in the future.”

Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley, who sits on the board’s museum and has been attending the Corn Boilin’ for almost 20 years, is volunteering again this year to paint faces at the children’s table.

Staley said for an election year like this one, the event is a great time for the community to come out and meet the candidates, many of whom will be serving food to attendees this year.

Warren said they are expecting Republican, Democratic and Libertarian candidates to be in attendance and it’s a time for them to speak to the people and seek out those last few votes before the July 31 primary.

“This year we’re expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people to be here because it’s an election year,” he said, adding that typically they have around 1,200 in attendance.

For Warren, the Corn Boilin’ reminds him of his childhood and growing up in the north Georgia mountains.

“It’s just an old-fashioned family reunion, that what I call it,” he said. “Back when the farmers would bring in the crops every year, they would boil corn out in the fields, in the big 55-gallon drums. It’s kind of like a celebration of the harvest.”

During the event, they’ll serve 42 cases of yellow corn from Collins Brothers Produce in Forest Park, 22 cases of cantaloupe, 20 cases of tomatoes and 35 watermelons, along with beans, onions, cole slaw and hoe cakes.

“It’s a poor man’s fundraiser!” he added. “We are even trying something new this year. We’ll have glazed bologna.”

The Corn Boilin will also have entertainment from local cloggers, Out of the Blue Band from the north Georgia mountains, 11-year-old singer Sara Stevens from Marietta and Cobb Sheriff’s Major Chris Griffith will perform patriotic and gospel songs.

Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased at the door or by calling (770) 429-8287.