By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Summer seems officially over when the Illinois State Fair is all wrapped up. School has begun, the fall clothes are hitting the stores and everyone is thinking pumpkins and fall harvest.
This year’s fair had the best and worst of weather. With two days hovering in the mid-80s, visitors flocked to the fair; however, storms on two nights cancelled grandstand shows, including the sold-out Lady Antebellum and rock-n-roll’s Cheap Trick.
Besides the grandstand and always-popular tractor pulls, the state fair has competitions that are tradition. One was the award of the Tree Grower of the Year, which went to Greg and Pat Zak of Springfield. “We started planting in 1988,” Greg said. “We planted walnut, red oak and white oak. We planted 90 acres of trees.”
Jeff Squibb of the Illinois Department of Department of Agriculture (IDOA) reported that 11-year-old Dylan Decker of Atkinson, Ill., won the Junior Barrow Competition with his 269-pound crossbred named Smalls.
Squibb reported that the boy said, “I didn’t know what to expect, I was shocked. It’s my first year at the state fair.” Decker is an active member of the Atkinson Boosters 4-H Club and his parents hope he will use his winnings for college.
The Reserve Grand Champion Barrow is owned by 15-year-old Bodee Schoipf, a member of the El Paso Champions 4-H Club and El Paso FFA Chapter. His crossbred barrow Hoosier weighs 279 pounds. Squibb said Schoipf has been showing for nine years.
The 2010 Grand Champion Rabbit Meat Pen belonged to 11-year-old Emily Wolff of the Brighton Farmhands 4-H Club. Wolff has been showing for three years, and winnings from her New Zealand rabbits will be put back into the family farm. “We want to put new insulation in our shed,” she said.
The purple ribbon for the Grand Champion Poultry Trio went to Hannah Foster of Paxton, Ill. Foster is 17 and a member of the Paxton Prairie Bluestems 4-H Club. She has been showing for eight years and this is the first time she has ever won the Illinois State Fair Junior Show.
There are long lists of must-sees and -do’s at the Illinois State Fair, and a view of sculptor Sharon BuMann’s butter cow is one. Located in the dairy building, the cow this year included stalks of corn and a detailed creation that many waited in line to see (read related story).
The Illinois Railways tent, too, shared information about a planned high-speed rail and included antique train information from an array of museums.
The horticulture museum, a clown band, lemonade shakeups, taffy, corn dogs and French fries with vinegar are a few fair favorites, along with the Ethnic Village. The Village had traditional fare from Korea, Germany, Mexico, Italy and other great selections.
Squibb said the Illinois State Fair is known for offering an array of everything imaginable edible on a stick: “From cheese on a stick to alligator on a stick, the fair has it all for those who love their food tasty and portable.”
There was even a contest to see who could create the most important meal of the day on a stick: Breakfast. Twenty senior and junior chefs filled the Hobbies, Arts and Crafts Building with mouth-watering aromas as they competed in the “Breakfast on a Stick” competition, sponsored by the American Egg Board and IDOA.
Squibb reported the Carter and Crider families of Lincoln, Ill., were the top finishers. Elizabeth Carter won the top spot in the senior division with sushi, while her daughter, Miriam, led the junior division with her Quick & Easy Egg Swirls.
Darlene Crider’s Eggs Benedict won second place in the senior division, while Hannah Crider took the junior division’s second spot with her Egg in a Frame.
The Vintage Ag Assoc. and Prairieland Heritage Museum joined together to offer the public a variety of antique tractors. One beautiful Cockshutt was awarded the Twilight Parade “Cream of the Crop” ribbon.
Lilly Anne Skogsberg came to the show for the first time this year and enjoyed sitting on the seat of her grandpa’s Sears Economy tractor. Lilly is 10 months old and the daughter of Carrie and Brent Skogsberg. This was also Brent’s first time at the fair, and while all the sights and sounds caught his attention nothing was as fun as watching Lilly eat chocolate ice cream at the Dairy Building.
Check out the Illinois State Fair website and watch the countdown of how many days until the 2011 fair, at www.agr.state.il.us/isf |
