Score one for the women's movement. For the first time ever, a woman has won the hog calling title at the Illinois State Fair. Doris Probst of Effingham, Illinois entered both contests at the 2008 Husband and Hog Calling Contest, but didn't place in the husband calling event. Probst beat out two previous winners to take the hog calling honor.
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Wow. She wouldn't even qualify for the preliminaries at the Iowa State Fair. Her vocal register is thin, projection is awful, mimickry is bush league. What a poser. Are you sure she wasn't at a Captain Caveman Impression contest?
So why is this newsworthy? I'd totally expect a hog to win a hog-calling contest. Duh!!!
Is it sad that I've actual been in attendence for this contest in years past? (my parents live in Springfield, IL)
Oh and if you are ever so lucky to attend the Illinois State Fair, they have a replica of a cow entirely made of butter (to scale!) It is a site to behold my friends, a site to behold.
Laura - Wow. How long have you been in therapy?
Well actually I was in therapy before going to the fair, but once I laid eyes on the wonder that is the Butter Cow, I was miraculously cured!
My parents were born and raised in Illinois (I grew up in St. Louis) so they have been going for years and the butter cow has been a feature there for close to 50 years (they make a new one each year obviously)
Call it the freak in me, but there is just something about spending a day surrounded by white trash and fried foods that makes me feel all warm and squishy inside.
Laura--you took the words out of my mouth. You were fortunate to get out young.....I, sadly, have remained here in Central Illinois.....the local county fairs are the true treasures to behold. But, ya gotta see the Butter Cow at least once in your life.....
Never underestimate the healing power of a butter cow.
Yeah, harvest festivals make me all warm and squishy inside, too, but I believe its a combination of Polish sausage, funnel cakes, and fried Twinkies.
This year, Iowa State Fair has a cow, Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, George Washington Carver, and Olympian Shawn Johnson carved in butter. In years past, the life-sized butter diorama has included Garth Brooks, Superman and Grant Wood. Whenever Iowans pass a traditional bronze statue, they often are overheard saying "I can't believe it's not butter."
They've been doing it for nearly a century and are only on their fourth sculptor. The current sculptor studied under Duffy Lyon for fifteen years before taking the helm.
http://www.iowastatefair.com/entertainment/buttercow.php
Laura...you brought back memories! I lived in Springfield for several years, and worked for the State of Illinois communications and video area. We interviewed the lady who makes the butter cow. Although she makes a new one every year, SHE SAVES THE BUTTER to re-use it the next year! Her false teeth (upper plate) fell out during the interview. We were all laughing so hard in the edit suite afterwards. It looked especially funny in reverse. Good times, good times.
Although, I have to say, I'm nostalgic about the State Fair. There's nothing quite like a corn dog with a lemonade shake-up.
Breezy - Is it weird that I'm actually jealous of you? What I wouldn't give to meet that woman. I can't even begin to image the personality of a person who has spent years of their life creating bovines of butter. I wish she was my Grandma (Grandma Jean, if you are reading this, I mean no offense, you're awesome too!)
Sometimes I don't understand my parents, They've lived in all corners of the US, yet when all their children moved out, they decided the best place to spend their "empty nest" years was in Springfield?!?!? *sigh* Thank the lord I had the sense to move to Colorado when I graduated college. Although there will always be a special place in my heart for Illinois.