Sumner, Wild Goose Capital of the World - Sumner, Missouri USA
Posted by: 
vulture1957
N 39° 39.159 W 093° 14.772
15S E 478878 N 4389234
Sumner (pop 102) in northeast Missouri bills itself as "The Wild Goose Capital of the World". The Swan Lake NWR attracts over 100,000 geese per year.
Waymark Code: WMYCD1
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 05/29/2018
Views: 1
Located on a migratory flyway, Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Sumner area began to attract ever larger numbers of geese in the mid and late 20th century, reaching 100,000 or more by the 1980s and 1990s. This also led to a yearly influx of hunters, benefiting the few Sumner businesses and Chariton County as a whole. With these numbers in mind Sumner was proclaimed the "Wild Goose Capital of the World". Sumner also began to hold a yearly Goose Festival in 1955 and it continues each October, with a variety of activities held including live music, a queen contest, food and a parade. Sumner residents commissioned a Kansas City sculptor in 1976 to create a large statue to honor the community's status and reputation for waterfowl hunting. What resulted was the "Worlds Largest Goose". Named "Maxie", the fiberglass and metal structure stands over forty feet tall with a wingspan of sixty-five feet and a total weight of over 5,000 pounds.