Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
KIDS LINE up Saturday afternoon at the Iron County Fair for a chance to try their skills in the kids tractor pull competition. Groups were divided among boys and girls as well as age. The winner of each group received a certificate for $5 worth of ice cream at the 4-H Dairy Booth. Pictured here, Nicholas Walesewicz gives the tractor pull a try as a crowd cheers him on.
SAXON, Wis. - The 88th annual Iron County Fair had a successful weekend, seeing beautiful weather and lots of fair-goers.
Saturday was the busiest day, hosting a number of events, Earl's Rides, competitions and of course the 4-H buildings.
Both a kiddie tractor pull and an antique tractor pull took place around lunch time with Marty's Goldenaires holding a flag raising ceremony and performance right after.
A performance by the polka band Finn Power entertained fair-goers in the pavilion throughout Saturday afternoon.
A big crowd draw was the Lake States Mud Racers mud run held out in front of the grandstand.
As part of a non-profit organization that races both in Wisconsin and Michigan, the Lake States Mud Racers offered a great show full of mud, muck and of course loud engines.
Racers were both men and women, with four separate racing categories: Pure Stock, Street, Super, and Pro Stock.
Winners were chosen based on a best combined time over two runs.
The 4-H live auction was also held Saturday evening in the livestock ring. 4-H kids showed off their animals for bidding for a large crowd.
Five steers, six pens of six broiler chickens each, two lambs and seven hogs were auctioned off.
Brant Swartz had the Grand Champion winning broilers, which were a Cornish Cross breed.
The broilers are new to the fair and were auctioned off as a pen of six and based per pound. Swartz' broilers were auctioned off at $9 per pound by Spring Creek Farm Polled Herefords – Jim and Brenda Clement.
The hogs kept the night exciting by keeping the 4-H members and volunteers alert and on their feet chasing them down in the barn.
Some feisty hogs did not want to leave the comfort of their pens and put up quite a fight when it was time to move them out to the auction ring, forcing the crew to quickly shut the barn doors to keep one from running out into the fair.
The night ended with an energetic performance by The Dweebs, who ventured out among fair-goers to involve them in the dancing and singing.
Sunday, the last day of the fair, was quieter than Saturday but with no less fun.
The horse arena offered a horse game day for spectators, including barrel racing.
Antique tractors and equipment were on display all afternoon, with a break in which they were fired up and drove throughout the fairgrounds for the antique tractor parade.
Following the parade was the draft horse pulling contest in the grandstand, where two groups of draft horses, medium weight and heavy weight, competed.
The medium weight had three groups competing and the heavy weight had six, with two horses in each.
The draft horses pulled cinder blocks of increasing weight for a full pull of 27.5 feet. The highest weight was 6,000 pounds, which was the equivalent of 5 large cinder blocks.
The annual 4-H pie auction was held late afternoon in the fair pavilion. A record 31 pies were submitted for judging.
Nolan Salzmann auctioned off the pies once again this year and a few pies had some hearty bidding wars over them.
One couple even bid against each other without realizing it and won a great raspberry pie for $300. The highest bid this year was for $700.
A performance by Brad Emanuel carried the fair to the end. It was a fun and entertaining weekend for everyone.
