by Dennis Dalman
Sartell Cub Scout Preston Knudtson might well be called the “Popcorn King” because for years he has walked just about every street in Sartell selling oodles and oodles of popcorn products.
So much popcorn, in fact, that he earned a trip to Disney World in Florida. His family will be heading to Disney World sometime in May to celebrate his achievement. During a period of weeks last year, Preston sold more than $18,000-worth of popcorn to benefit his Scouting troop, making him by far the biggest seller of all the Scouts in central Minnesota and earning him the trip to Florida.
The pre-popped-popcorn products are supplied by the Scouting organization and are ordered from a company in Wisconsin. Most of the popcorn comes in tins, boxes or cartons. There is a wide variety, including chocolate-lovers’ popcorn, double-butter popcorn, pretzel-popcorn and more.
Ten-year-old Preston is a fifth-grade student at Riverview Intermediate School and is a member of Sartell Boy Scout Pack 211. He has been a Cub Scout for six years. A highly energetic boy, he loves Scout camping, its Pinewood Derby, baseball and swimming.
Preston’s parents are Kyle and Jennifer Knudtson. He has a sister, Piper, 8; and a brother Paxton, 2.
To earn the Disney trip, Preston sold all of that popcorn from August to October of last year. He has been selling popcorn to benefit the Scouting organization for six years. In 2022, he sold $6,695-worth of popcorn. All told, he has sold a veritable mountain of popcorn products to at least 700 customers during the past six years.
Preston’s family, naturally, is very proud of him.
“We are so happy he has earned this (trip) for our family,” said his father, Kyle. “It’s amazing how much time and effort he put into reaching his goal. Every year he sold popcorn, he would keep exceeding his goal and then upping his goal every single time.”
Kyle called his son the “hardest-working kid in central Minnesota.”
During many sales times, Kyle and Jennifer would accompany their son as they walked the streets of Sartell or attended events where he would set up his popcorn stand, such as at the park by the Hemker Zoo in Freeport.
“As soon as we’d get home from work, Preston would have his wagon loaded up with popcorn and then say to me, ‘Let’s hit a neighborhood,’’’ Kyle said. “Jennifer helped too.”
Kyle is an administrative director in the dean’s office for St. Cloud State University’s Herberger Business School. Jennifer is a certified public accountant for her own firm that does real-estate business contract work.
His parents credit two Scouting members for encouraging and supporting Preston’s sales efforts and his constant involvement in Scout activities. The two are Sheri Gohmann of the Central Minnesota Scout Office and Anna Haire, Preston’s Scouting den leader and an almost daily contact for Preston when he would need more popcorn to sell, which was almost all the time.
And rest assured: Preston the “Popcorn King” doesn’t just sell popcorn; he loves to eat it too.
Last fall, Preston Knudtson set up “shop” to sell popcorn products near the Hemker Zoo in Freeport.
The Knudtson family of Sartell is comprised of Kyle and Jennifer Knudtson; son Paxton, 2, (being held by Kyle); Piper, 8, (front row, left); and Preston, 10.
