Packing her basket and then some
The Leader caught up with Ashley Bergsbaken, Shawano County Fairest of the Fair, Friday afternoon as she was filling her Fairest of the Fair auction basket. It was actually a wheelbarrow, but a basket probably wouldn’t have held it all.
The contents were due to be auctioned off during the livestock auction Friday, with all proceeds going to the fair program.
Bergsbaken had a busy week, handing out ribbons and making appearances at various fair events.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said. “More than I hoped for, definitely. Way more. There’s been a lot of fantastic memories made so far this week.”
Bear catcher visits the fair
The woman whose phone call to the DNR in May led to the capture of that yearling bear who had been wandering around the city attacking bird feeders also was at the fair Friday.
Christa Blumreich was attending the livestock auction at the coliseum Friday and talked with the Leader about her bear adventure, which started when she saw it dining out of the bird feeder in her yard.
“It was interesting,” Blumreich said. “I had never seen a bear up close, so it was kind of neat to watch.”
When DNR wardens arrived, the 80-pound bear was tranquilized, collared, put into a barrel trap for transport, and shipped off to someplace a little less populated.
“I was glad it was caught and it could be returned to the wild so it wouldn’t get injured or anything like that,” Blumreich said. “It was good to see that it got to to a better home.”
Animals provide background vocals
Brooke Breitrick, of Tilleda, sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at the livestock auction and received a warm round of applause for her talents.
Those standing near the metal chute where the livestock were waiting to make their entrance got a little something extra — backup vocals.
As if on cue, a sheep and several hogs waiting to go on, accompanied Brietrick from the wings, lending a few grunts and bleats here and there that seemed perfectly timed to the music.
Their participation didn’t surprise Shawano County 4-H youth development agent Joe Stellato.
“They’ll do that,” he said.
All is calm at the fair
A handful of sheriff’s deputies reported no issues or disorderly behavior during the first two days of the fair. The department has nearly a dozen people posted outside a station on the fairgrounds.
Proud winners at the fair
A couple of the junior fair winners were hanging out in the beef barn Friday.
Sara Esch, in her final year of junior class competition, received supreme champion honors for her Go-Make Balt Destination heifer.
Her 13-year-old sister, Elizabeth, won the grand championship in showmanship for her feeder steer.
Sam Inman, of Bonduel, was all smiles after her top finish in beef steer showmanship. The full list of award winners will be announced at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Enduro Race canceled by rain
Heavy rain Thursday night prompted fair officials to cancel the Enduro Race scheduled Friday at the race track.
Cream puff sales increase
Wolf River Harmony, provider of the fair’s cream puffs, reports it had sold 360 pastries as of 9:30 p.m. Friday. They sold 359 Thursday.
Fairgoers purchased 174 cream puffs Wednesday before running out of cream.
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