Fair offers food, fun, festivities

IRONWOOD - The Gogebic County Fair drew crowds Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday's sunny skies offsetting Saturday's showers.

"We've got a good fair. We've had lots of good comments," Fair Board Chairman Jim Gribble said Sunday. "The exhibits are really high quality. You can tell the people have worked hard to get them ready for the fair."

Saturday was the fair's Family Day; and despite the intermittent rain, the festivities continued as scheduled.

The day started off with an open horse show in the morning, followed by the harness races in the afternoon.

Young fairgoers were treated to a multitude of rides and assorted treats from the many concession stands. Anything from hot dogs, burgers, tacos, and funnel cakes were available to enjoy.

Gribble said while the fair used the same rides company as previous years, they used a different set of rides - offering bigger rides this year.

The Michigan State University Extension's kids zone offered loads of activities for children to enjoy; including face painting, games, and a show by Wayne the Wizard complete with magic tricks, illusion, comedy and ventriloquism. Horse-drawn wagons were also in operation throughout the day.

Farmers from around the area brought in their freshest produce to put on display; with the best fruits, vegetables, jams, jellies, and pies winning prizes in the various categories.

Many local youth brought in their livestock to show in the livestock competitions.

Later on, in the cattle ring, the 42nd Annual Gogebic County 4-H Livestock Auction took place.

Lillian Tiziani and her sister Sylvia, of Ironwood, both come to the fair each year to enter their hogs in the auction.

"We come here every year," said Lillian. "It's fun to raise the animals, and then see how well they do."

The auction kicked off with 19-year-old Nicki Lekies, of Ironwood, leading in her Grand Champion Steer "Moose" for bidding. Moose, a Limousin Flex steer, came in at a total weight of 1,330 lbs.

The bidding on Moose ended at $3.80 per pound. The sale was historic for the annual auction, as it put the gross sales past an all-time total of $1 million dollars.

In the evening, Fran Cosmo - former lead singer of the rock band Boston - took to the grandstand to deliver a show to evening fairgoers.

The fair continued Sunday, with organizers hoping the warmer weather and clear skies will bring a higher attendance to offset any drop caused by Saturday's rain.

In addition to the fair's standard fare of rides and carnival food, Sunday featured the annual pie auction.

The auction raised over $3,000. The adult grand champion pie - a raspberry torte baked by Alice Ruotsala - sold for $500, and the kid's grand champion pie - a caramel-pecan cheesecake baked by McKensi Koval - went for $320.

The money from the auction helps with maintenance and improvements to the fairground, according to Gribble.

In the afternoon and evening, fairgoers got to watch a new event, the Dirt Dash, in the fair's grandstand.

The event was a demolition-derby-type race where both amateurs and professionals competed to be the fastest cars in their heats.

Angie Laakso won the professional division, while Richard Bierl took the amateur bracket.

The weekend's events capped a successful fair, Gribble said, adding the weather largely cooperated, except for Saturday.

"The other three days were perfect," he said.

Gribble also praised the new entertainment that performed Friday and Saturday.

"Juice Newton, with the good weather, was a good draw and everybody like her," Gribble said. "She can really sing."

He also spoke highly of Cosmo and his band, saying they put on a great show even though the weather caused some technical difficulties.