Sycamore popcorn stand turns 100

SYCAMORE – In July, a downtown Sycamore business celebrated 100 years of popping DeKalb County’s most well-known cash crop, and the owners said they expect to continue selling popcorn for generations to come.

Lifelong Sycamore resident Cassie Oltman took over ownership of Cassie’s Popcorn Stand from her mother in 2010. The family has owned the business for more than 40 years. Oltman said she thinks “it is awesome” to be a part of the Sycamore popcorn stand’s legacy.

“The public, everybody’s great. They come up for the popcorn. We have people that come almost daily to fill their buckets. It’s great to be here with the community,” Oltman, 59, said during a centennial celebration July 25.

Cassie’s Popcorn Stand has stood on the southwest corner of State and Maple streets in downtown Sycamore for 100 years, but the business’s history is even older.

As early as 1893, James Elliott brought a horse-drawn wagon to the northwest corner of State and Maple streets and sold popcorn, according to a poster at the stand documenting its history.

“The public, everybody’s great. They come up for the popcorn. We have people that come almost daily to fill their buckets. It’s great to be here with the community.”

—  Cassie Oltman, Cassie's Popcorn Stand owner

Elliott operated what he called the Popcorn and Confectionary Stand until he moved away from the community in 1921. Two years later, the wagon – with its wheels removed – was moved to the southwest corner of the intersection and was reopened by the Lobaugh family, the history goes.

The popcorn stand’s ownership changed two more times before Oltman’s mother, Jody Mattison, took over the business in the early 1980s.

Oltman and her husband, along with her daughter and grandson, all helped man the popcorn booth for the 100th-anniversary celebration, which included a raffle, free cookies and a display on the stand’s history.

“I’m proud of her. She’s put a lot of effort into it, especially with everything going on in life. There’s a lot, and we’re still making it work,” said Leah Oltman, Cassie Oltman’s daughter.

Leah Oltman, 33, has known the Sycamore popcorn stand as her family’s business for her entire life. She said her favorite memory growing up was seeing her great-grandma work with Mattison, her grandma, at the stand.

Cassie Oltman said she’ll eventually hand over the reins of the popcorn stand to her daughter.

“And her son will be the next one in line to take over after her,” Cassie Oltman said.

Cassie Oltman’s elementary school-aged grandson, Cayson Oltman, helped apply temporary tattoos at the centennial celebration. He said he also enjoys the perks of having a family-owned business along the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival parade route.

His grandmother does as well.

“Our whole family comes. I put a big spot out here,” Cassie Oltman said. “Now we can see it. Years ago, when I was younger, we had to stand on stuff to be able to see through the crowd, but now you can actually see the parade.”

Cassie Oltman said they love their regulars and are available to supply popcorn for holiday events, Christmas baskets, weddings and more.

The popcorn stand offers a variety of flavors, and Cassie Oltman said they frequently try out new special varieties.

She said the old-fashioned white popcorn is the most popular. Cassie Oltman said she’s come up with a new flavor mixture that’s better than Chicago-style: caramel and cheese popcorn mixed.

“The Sycamore style is new the last five years – it goes off the shelf,” she said. “I make it and it’s gone. It’s cheese-covered caramel. It’s better [than Chicago-style popcorn]. It is good. I make it, and within a day or two days, it’s all gone.”