Originally, the peanuts were boiled in two cookers constructed from tire rims and chicken house gas burners, according to Sherri Richburg, Luverne Chamber of Commerce. The peanuts were hand-picked off the vine green, hand washed, boiled, sacked and sold. Shriners wives contracted with local businesses to sell the peanuts, which were delivered throughout the area. The boil takes place every year at the site of an old cotton gin. A fire hydrant on the property is used to wash the peanuts.
Profits farom the project benefit burn victims.
One of the largest peanut wholesalers and retailers in the South is McNeil Farms, Dothan, Ala., owned and operated by Nita and Ed McNeil. We just been doin' it in the South since as long as I can remember. Down here in the Deep South, we just love 'em. There's just always been boiled peanuts. I guess we just like 'em that way.