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y Tarissa Host

On August 19th, Husky Lee,

on the title of largest boar in

Minnesota for the 2011

Minnesota State Fair. Huskys

wners, long time fair goers John

nd Barb Tabatt, are excited to

avel to the state fair again this

ear to showcase their boar.

Husky Lee is a four year old

oar. He weighs in at about 1,160

ounds as of August 19th, mak-

ng him the heaviest in

Minnesota. He likes to eat corn,

ats, garden scraps, and some-mes apples. You cant force

ed a pig, said Barb Tabatt, he

ust eats what he wants.

Barb revealed that Husky Lee

kes to think he is part of their

eef cattle herd. Husky escaped

om his pen in the barn and

hey found him grazing with the

eef cattle. He would go out

ith the cattle, sleep with the

attle, and travel the two blocks

o Harris Creek for water with

he cattle.

The Tabatts have been partic-

pating in the largest boar com-

etition at the state fair since

004. The Tabatts raised pigs forheir sons, John Jr. and Jason,

ho were both active in 4-H.

ow that the boys are grown,

arb and John Tabatt continue

howing boars at the state fair

ach year.

In 1999, the Tabatts bought a

little Yorkshire-Landrace boar

pig from Terry Rickbeil. They

planned to use the pig for breed-

ing purposes so the boys could

show them in 4-H. By 2002, the

boar was too big to use for breed-

ing so the boys decided they

should keep him and see how big

he would grow.

In August of that year Barb

Tabatt contacted the state fair

board to find out how to enter the

fair contest for the largest pig.

She was told the pig would needa name, and be weighed at a cer-

tain time. The Tabatts decided to

name the pig Terry, after his

original owner. They had him

weighed August 8, 2002. He

came in at a whopping 935

pounds, but was still not big

enough for the contest that year.

In 2003, when Terry was four

years old, the Tabatts tried

again. Terry was still not big

enough. Barb then did some

research on raising pigs to gain

weight. After gathering a ton of

information, she made a plan to

fatten the pig up.

In order to fatten him up theyneeded to change the ratio used

to make the pigs food. Barb

learned apples provided a very

good source of protein, so they

gathered apples from anyone

willing to give them away. Lastly,

they fed Terry an ice-cream pail

of milk each day.

On August 13, 2004, Terry

weighed in at 1,220 pounds. That

evening the Tabatts recived aphone call that said they had

won the largest boar contest.

Terry was on display at the

Minnesota State Fair in 2004 as

the largest pig in Minnesota.

Ever since then the Tabatts

have entered the largest boar

contest at the Minnesota State

Fair. Again in 2007, the Tabatts

entered the contest with a four

year old boar named Squeaky.Squeaky weighed in at 1,240

pounds. One of the rules for the

contest states that once a pig

makes a trip to the fair, they can-

not go again. So the Tabatts get

a new pig every few years to

raise for the contest.

Husky Lee has now followed

in the footsteps of Terry and

Squeaky by becoming the largest

boar in Minnesota 2011. It is apassion of ours, said Barb It is

fun. The whole family goes down

to the fair to see the pig. I feel

famous when we go down there

with so many people asking

questions. It is well worth it.

By Tarissa Host

On August 22, at 8:38 pm, an

injury at a gravel pit on county 80,

rural Eagle Bend was reported.

Todd County Sheriff s Department,

Eagle Bend First Responders, and

Bertha Ambulance responded and

found that 17 year old Aaron

Johnson, Eagle Bend, dove into ashallow area of the pond at the

gravel pit and was unconsious and

unresponsive when helped to

shore.

That day, Aaron and two of his

close friends decided to go swimmg.

Aaron dove into the water like nor-

mal, but hit his head and did not

come back up. One of his close

friends swam over to him and with

help from the other friend brought

him to shore. He was concious at

first but his breathing slowly

altered and the friends had to pre-

form CPR on him.

When the first responders and

police arrived his pulse waschecked and a defribulator was

used. He was transported to Tri-

County Hospital in Wadena, and

air lifted to North Memorial

Hospital in Minneapolis due to

severe brain trauma and neck

injuries.

Aaron Johnson passed away on

Thursday, August 25 at 4:58 p.m.

The funeral was on Monday,

August 29th at the Clariss

Elementary Gym. Visit his website

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/a

aronjohnson1 and show your sup-port.

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Volume 95; Number 12

www.bladepublishing.net

Wed. Aug. 31

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Fri. Sept. 2

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Sat. Sept. 3

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WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

75

One Big Pig! Meet Husky Lee

A beautiful evening for a picnicThe Browerville Commercial Club had perfect weather for their 7th annual Harvest Fest

held on August 26th. The fest, featuring locally grown sweet corn, gave friends and relatives

chance to visit while enjoying the late summer evening. Many items were also donated to the

Browerville Area Food Shelf.

Swimming accident

claims the life of

Eagle Valley teen

Husky Lee, pictured above, won the largest boar competition at the 2011 Minnesota State

Fair, making him the largest boar in the state of Minnesota.