Fair brings weekend thrills

By P.J. GLISSON

news@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood - Despite interruptions from Mother Nature, the Gogebic County Fair drew lively crowds over the past weekend and allowed local residents to participate in a wide range of fun over a 4-day weekend schedule.

Light rain hit the Ironwood fairgrounds, off and on, from Friday evening through Saturday, but it was not enough to cancel activities.

One unfortunate casualty was that a new performance by the Stateline Drill Team - a mounted horse show originally planned for Friday at 6:30 p.m. - was postponed until Saturday at noon and then was changed again to 10 a.m. in anticipation of additional rain.

"We're just so thrilled that we had a good crowd and a happy crowd," said Marlene Saari, fair coordinator, in the fairgrounds office on Sunday evening.

Ticket records have not yet been tallied, but Saari said she believes attendance was down on Friday and Saturday due to the weather.

Even so, she assured, "We're pretty pleased" and added that fair officials have had "nothing but compliments."

One clear advantage was that, on Aug. 8, volunteers helped to repair the grandstand so that fair attendees could use it safely.

"We probably had between 50 to 75 volunteers," said Saari, adding that licensed contractors directed the process, "making sure that everything was done right."

She said the direction - which also included some barn work - was based on a recent engineering report that pointed out flaws requiring correction.

Saari said that even Wisconsin snowmobilers from Eagle River and St. Germaine were among the volunteers, stating that they hoped for snowmobile races to continue on the fairgrounds.

As a result of the work, popular events such as Saturday's antique tractor pull and that night's mud races could occur with the audience using grandstand seating as usual.

The Lake Superior Tired Iron Club was in charge of the tractor pull, which had no problems with the damp track.

Kasey Krall of Saxon, Wisconsin, is president of the club and also emceed the event, for which results will be available on Facebook. He said about 40 tractors participated in the pull.

Krall also emphasized to the crowd that you do not need to own a tractor to join the club.

Members of the Lake States Mud Racers were in charge of Saturday night's mud races, which depend on wet, sloppy pits, so rain was certainly not a problem for those participants.

The group's website will post results of that race.

Other activities that occurred without issue on the fairgrounds were horse shows and youth games, a livestock auction, and harness racing.

A new activity this year that drew a lot of public interest was a Saturday pepper-eating contest sponsored by Taiga Farm & Vineyards in Ironwood Township and the Northwind Natural Foods Co-op in Ironwood.

During the event, which attracted onlookers on all sides, Darrin Kimbler of Taiga Farm emceed and Cathy Flory of the co-op distributed the peppers.

Throughout the event, apt music such as "The Heat is On" or "Hot, Hot, Hot" played.

Agnes Arnold of Ironwood won the competition among a dozen contestants, which included Lt. Matt Sterbenz of Ironwood's Department of Public Safety, who made it to the last round.

"I never did this before," said Arnold, whose son, Nate also competed. She speculated that growing up in Mexico and liking hot food had given her the advantage.

On Sunday, the Midway by KM Amusements was still in gear through the evening, with children such as Hadley Holtz, who will be three next month, taking some final turns on the merry-go-round.

"She's having such a good time," said her grandma, Sally Holtz of Ironwood.

On the other side of the grounds, Paisleigh Anderson was preparing to take her miniature horse, Misty, home. Her mom, Vanessa Anderson of Ironwood said they participated in numerous events such as jumping, pulling, etc. and declared both Paisleigh and Misty "exhausted."

In assuring public safety, the Gogebic Sheriff's Office, the Ironwood Department of Public Safety, the Ironwood Township Volunteer Fire Department and Beacon Ambulance all had a presence at the fair.

Zach Brentar, assistant chief of the township VFD, said on Saturday that he and some of his fellow firefighters also were supplying water as needed, for instance for the grandstand track and for the mud race pits.

Overall, Deputy Josh Elias of the Gogebic County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday evening that it was a "really good weekend."

According to Saari, Nicole Bichanich of Ashland, Wisconsin, was declared the Homemaker of the Year. Volunteer Awards went to two Ironwood residents: Lewis Somero for the adult division and Adrianne Balchick, 13, for the youth division.

Saari said a successful Sunday pie auction resulted in the sale of about two dozen pies. The fair office will report more details later.

The fair ended on Sunday at 10 p.m. after an afternoon tractor parade and the expected release of all animals and exhibits in the evening. Demirae Hupp, 4, of Ironwood drew the winning ticket in the Friends of the Fair 50/50. Jim Koval of Ironwood won $735.