The Big Idaho Potato Truck made its way back to the Big Catsup Bottle
By Devese “Dee” Ursery
The World’s largest Catsup Bottle hosted the arrival of the Big Idaho Potato Truck Tour.
The Big Idaho Potato Truck made its way back to Collinsville for another visit to the City. Hundreds of people showed up at the Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower to get a picture and hang out with the “Spuddy Buddy,” the mascot for the Big Potato Truck.
According to Mike “The Big Tomato” Gassmann, the purpose of this weekend’s event was to have fun and give the community something to enjoy and promote the Catsup Bottle as well as the Idaho Potato Tour.
“Last year’s event was an actual official Catsup Festival where we did activities and games all day; today we’re just here to welcome the Big Idaho Potato Truck and have some fun,” Gassmann said.
There were no sponsors or vendors for this event except for Mahalo Shaved Ice serving cold refreshments to visitors and the Idaho Potato Commission that were instrumental in getting the big Potato Truck to Collinsville. Although the event wasn’t as big as last year’s, there were still a few traditional Catsup Bottle activities that took place. The star of the show was the giant Idaho Potato, but we’ve also had the Catsup Tasting booth, the Spin the Catsup Bottle Wheel. The Idaho Potato people were having giveaways as well, according to Gassmann.
This is the Potato Truck’s 12th cross-country voyage and its fifth visit to the staple of Collinsville, the Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower. The Idaho Potato Commission created the giant potato in 2012 to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
“A potato that size would produce over a million french fries,” Gassmann said. “I think our catsup bottle can handle that!”
Kyle Rauterkus, also known as ‘Spudicus’ for the Tater Team, spoke of the truck itself and what he likes most about being part of the Tater Team. He has been with the Tater Team since 2022 and this is his third tour.
“I think going around and being able to meet so many people,” Rauterkus said. “I think this truck draws in a lot of interesting, fun and curious people; and so being able to talk to people about the truck itself.”
The big Idaho Potato Truck is a 2020 Kenworth T680 72 foot long semi-truck that is 10 ft. wide and 13 1 ⁄ 2 ft. tall. The trailer is made by Western Trailer out of Idaho. “We travel the country, with this truck telling everybody how great Idaho Potatoes are,” Rauterkus continued.
The Idaho Potato Commission represents all of the farmers, packagers and distributors of Idaho Potatoes and the potato truck is part of the marketing arm for them as they travel around the country.
“We try to get a lot of eyes on the truck, to try and remind people to eat Idaho Potatoes,” Rauterkus said. “We send it to different grocery stores, restaurants and retailers that sell Idaho Potatoes so the farmers can sort of thank those different retailers for selling our potatoes.”
The Big Idaho Potato Truck tours cross country every year for seven months. This year the Tater Team left Idaho on Feb.23 and are scheduled to return on Sep. 8.
“We got about two more months of tour left and we’re done for the winter and we get back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and everything, so that’s nice,” Rauterkus said.
The potato truck also travels the country promoting the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association certified Idaho potato and its mission to help small charities in towns and cities with its A Big Helping program.
St. John’s United Church of Christ was onsite as well rounding up visitors to sign the Big Helping program board to promote good health, literacy and fun. Reverend Jennifer Glover, Pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ, talked about the focus of the program.
“It started as a tutoring program and has grown into not only a tutoring program, but an eight-week summer camp. We service anywhere from 75 to 80 kids depending on the day,” Glover said.
“Our primary focus is to give them a free lunch and to bridge that gap between school and school lunches, so we provide every kid with a hot lunch everyday.”
In addition, SJUCC also partners with the Collinsville Food Pantry to get families that request it, a bag of take home groceries for the weekend. “This is the 15th year of the summer program and it’s one of our town’s best kept secrets,” Glover continued.
Glover said that the program also features enrichment programs that reinforce literacy skills and provide assistance to children from Pre-K through high school. A lot of the non-profits come and they provide services or share their services with us while we’re there, according to Glover.
It’s mostly run with volunteers, we have myself and one other paid staff person. It takes about 50 volunteers or more between teenagers and adults to run the program every summer.
“We’re trying to supplement an experience while also giving them fun,” Glover concluded.
