By Nick Vittore

A man leans against the rail inside a bull arena with a cowboy belt a straw white hat that glimmers in the sun.

His name is Austin Williams. But just what path did he take to become a profes-sional bull riding and rodeo announcer?

The saying is that every child wants to be a cowboy, and be-ing introduced to the sport as an eight year old, Williams has been destined for the bull riding industry. With no family members in-volved in the industry, he was self-motivated to pursue his path. Since his startup as an auctioneer, he transitioned to a brief stint as a professional rider, and lastly became a card-holding member of several bull riding organizations worldwide such as the Inter-national Professional Rodeo Association and Southern Rodeo Association.

Having acquired plenty of knowledge in rodeo and bull riding events, he uses his expertise to help fans in-terpret events, from fans who watch Professional Bull Riding on T.V. to fans viewing their first event. “I try to break it down when I’m announcing to where the crowd understands what’s going on”, he explained. He believes that this exposes many casual spectators to the Western way of life, which for him is the most exciting part of the job.

When he’s not behind the microphone, he’s likely on the road. Having started this season in April, Williams explained how his travels have taken him from top to bottom of the US map. Back in April, his team started this season in South Georgia, and on the fourth of July they were in Michigan just 40 miles shy of the Canadi-an border. The schedule is fairly spontaneous as well;

Austin Williams

Former rodeo rider and announcer

“A career should be

based on

love.”

Austin Williams poses in front of his official bus

O

On an incredibly hot summer day at the Washington county fair, Brenda Coxx works behind the sizzling hot fryer. It is already 93 degrees outside but next to the fryer, it is about ten degrees hotter. Sweat drips from her brow as she dips a frozen Klondike bar into the fryer, the second step in the recipe of one of her stand’s

unusual dishes.She labors in her newly opened food stand called Nana’s Delica-cies, a strange food stand that sells many original types of food. The interesting menu contains three main delicacies, fried Jell-O, fried Klondike bars on sticks and Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers. Brenda Coxx explains that the idea for all her products are all original “Except the Krispy Kreme cheeseburger, I got that idea from a stand at the Iowa state fair.” The most popular food at the stand is the Krispy Kreme cheese-burger, which Brenda makes by simply cutting a Krispy Kreme doughnut in half in the way you would cut a bagel. Then Brenda places a cheeseburger between the doughnut halves, using the doughnuts halves as buns.On sweltering summer days, like Tuesday July 16th in Washing-ton County, many customers also purchase beverages, with the most popular choice being Mountain Dew.Alvin Wong, the 17 year old pie eating champion at the fair eats a fried Klondike bar on a stick and remarks on its quality. He says “It is kind of like a pie, the outside tastes like a pie crust or the outside of a cinnamon roll. It has a chocolate filling and vanilla ice cream in the middle. It is very good.”Brenda explained that she recently opened Nana’s Delicacies with her husband after they closed down their pizza restaurant, Coun-try pizza, which they had run together for twelve years.She explained that this was their first fair and that they intended on starting the stand last year at the Iowa state fair, but could not get a vendor pass.She intends on opening her stand at many fairs in the future in-cluding the Iowa, Wisconsin and Arkansas state fairs.Running the stand is a “Half-time job” for Brenda and her hus-band. Brenda says that she loves running the stand and that her favorite part is the people.“My favorite part of running the stand is meeting the people. I am a people person and interacting with customer is very enjoyable for me.” By: Adam Reckamp

Brenda Coxx poses with a recently filled Pepsi from her Pepsi fountain that she and her husband purhcased after selling their pizza place. Thier most popular drink is Mountian Dew

A fried Klondike bar on a stick. Melt-ed chocholate and frozen ice cream surrounded by a batter crust

Frogs take stage at county fair

A frog jumped across the stage, while adults leaped in an attempt to catch it during the frog-jumping contest at the Washington County Fair on July 16. There were two different age groups for the children to participate in at the frog-jumping contest. Jax Weber, age 6, was one of the children who participated in the frog-jumping contest at the fair. He actually won first place in the contest for his age group. Each frog in the contest is allowed only three jumps. There were not any more guidelines for the contest. Some frogs were tiny enough for the children to hold it with one hand, while other frogs were large and the children had to grip the frog with both hands. It is not the first time Weber has won. Weber has come to the fair for the past three years with his family and he has participated in each contest. “I’ve won it with different frogs. We get new ones every year,” Weber said. Weber’s family has a house by a lake. There are frogs that live in the lake and Weber said he gets his frogs from there. Sonja Cochran, age 12, was another winner at the frog jumping contest for the older age group. It was her first year participating in the contest, but prior to the contest Cochran did not even own her own frog. She is friends with Weber family though and they allowed her to borrow one of their extra frogs. “I’m proud I won since it was my first time. I won the pie-eating contest too,” Cochran said. The winning frog is determined by which one can jump the furthest distance with those three jumps. The top three frogs with the largest distance win, and the names of their owners are said on stage. The three winners also received a ribbon. Children sat around the stage during the contest and squealed when frogs jumped around the stage. The adults did not have an easy time catching the frogs either. In the end though, all the frogs were caught and returned to their owners safely.

(Top photo) A boy in the 4-7 year old age group catches his frog after it slipped away from the adults. (Bottom photo) The boy received a second place ribbon for his frog and the girl received a thrid place ribbon for hthe frog-jumping contest.

Morgan, a girl in the 4-7 year old age group, is about to poke her frog in order to make it jump.

“The cotton candy is yummy” –Katie Miranda

“By far my favorite food is

the tenderloin

– Betty Beenblosson

“I love the Sloppy Joe’s”

–Crystal Davis

“Well I just ate this cheeseburger here and I would say it’s my favorite food here at

the fair” –Reid Orris

“I’ll go with the

pork burger” - Barbie Ford

“Oh I would have to say…funnel cakes”

–Janelle Menzia

“I would defiantly say the

pork loin” –Gary Murphy

“I like the breaded pork

tenderloin” –Steve Norman

What’s your favorite

“We all like the funnel

cakes” –Victoria Cochron

A huge part of the Washington county fair is of course the food. At one par-ticular food stand the pork burgers are pretty famous for the delicious taste and of course getting drinks and ice cream is a big hit too. No one really wants to work in a hot closed up stand all day but you got to keep people happy. “It’shotbutI’mhere

volunteering for my kids swim team so this is a one-time thing”, Angie Clark said. All day long you see a group of people all lined up in front of the stands ready to get drinks and stay hydrated. “We have been getting tons of business today and especially people buying drinks and ice cream. Very refreshing”, Clark said.

The heat was very hard to take on July 16th but peo-ple left with the fact they still had a good time and ex-cited to get back to their air conditioned cars.

Hot Day At The Fair

Why run to the Berry Go Round at the Washington County Fair carnival when there are more exciting things to do at the fair? The fair brings people from all over the county. They select beauty queens, hold livestock competitions, and sell lemonade and fried ice cream. The place is crowded with hyper children and their parents, except the carnival. While everyone is judging cows and chickens, the carnival is bare and the Carnies are laying in the shade keeping cool. Where are the screaming children on the fast spin-ning Zero Gravity?Assistant Manager of the carnival, Donnie Boutah, commented on the rate of people in the carnival. “The Carnival is slow during the day, but we do get more people at night, like after the rodeo.” $2.50 in tickets is a lot to spend on a turn in a bounce house. Most rides need two or three tickets to enter, with each ticket being $1.25. It’s clear that ticket prices could be hold-ing back the carnival’s popularity. The ride quality has lost its touch. The rides at the carnival have been at fairs all over Illinois and Iowa, and other ride companies have them as well. They are the same rides as last year and the year before.

By Melanie PerezAfter paying a two ticket fee the teen rides the slide without waiting in line.

F U N RIDES FADI N G

Zero Gravity is the most popular ride at the carnival, but the seats are empty.

The Berry Go Round is definately a ride that will leave a person quesy.

Maybe a family could enjoy the car-nival if all their children were under the age of six, but this definitely not a place aimed for teens and adults. Carnivals will continue to lose busi-ness if they don’t step up their game and find more creative ways to keep the customers coming back.

F U N RIDES FADI N G

Holy Cow!

Far left: Cow-in cattle barn. Top middle: 4-H member lead-ing her heifer through show-ing ring. Bot-tom Middle:Cow seeking refuge from heat

A reader’s guide to the world of cattle show-ing at the Washington County Fair

Quick 4-H History According to the offi-cial 4-H website, it is a publicly funded, non-for-mal collaborative nation-al educational network. It’s beginings though, were certainly more humble. Starting in the early 20th century, 4-H was used as a program to teach rural youth about new agricultur-al technology through hands on learning. This was in hopes of the information would be shared with their par-ents. The program was named 4-H by 1912, and nationalized by 1914. Clubs today now focus on personal growth and a life time of learn-ing as opposed to soley agriculture.

By Nova Meurice Many 4-H mem-bers gathered in the Washington County Fair show ring, on yes-terday’s blazing July afternoon, to show the cows that they had spent much of the last year raising. As 11 year old Emma Leichty ex-plained, the main type of cattle that were being shown that day were heifers, female cows of 1 to 2 years of age that had not yet calved. As per official rules, the 4-H mem-bers showing cattle were to lead their an-imals around the ring

using a showing halter, a rope looking similar to a leash. The judges then were to give the contestants an order to line up in, at which time the cows feet were to be “squared” or lined up. After that, the judges gave prizes based on the cattle’s shape or balance, be-havior and footwork. Emma, a 4-H member for the past 2 years, would have been showing her heifer, Roanlily, in the junior category, but after a kick to the wrist by that same cow, she was unable to hold the

showing halter well without risk of further injury. Participants in the cattle show can choose also to enter the state competition. At that level, the winner’s cow will have a spot in the 4-H Hall of Champions throughout the fair or be sold in the Sale of Champions, depend-ing upon whether the cattle participating is a steer or heifer, and whether it’s a breeding or market animal. “[my favorite part] is

showing cattle and get-ting ribbons,” said Lo-gan Harmsen, another 11 year old showing in the junior division.

Top horse performance Done BY reaL coWBoYs anD coWGIrLs!!!

ThIs Is LoUIe, he performeD shoWmanshIp!

The stunning horses at county fair are and incredible athletes who perform at the county fair rodeo or are bid on at the fair to entertain their audience in Washington Iowa. Louie, who performed showmanship at the rodeo early in the morning on July 16th, was in his stall at the horses den. Louie’s owner Sarah showed and told a few pointers on where Louie was from and what kind of technique’s she used on him to prepare him for the competition. Sarah mainly used one technique on Louie which was ground work. Ground work is when you take the horse by the rains and lead them around the rodeo to show how they look to the judges and to the audience. Sarah has been with Louie for four years straight and started training him right away. There are over 40 horses in total that compete in the county rodeo competition weather it be barrel racing, happy hacking, or even showmanship. Horses have to be trained once they reach the ages of two through four. Depending on which kind of breed the horse is they usually have to begin training at the age of two. According to equisearch.com there are over a dozen ways you can learn and how to perform showmanship to the horse you own. Louie who is a beautiful horse all agreed with his owner while chomping down on his delicious hay in his stall. By: Sarah Aguilar

horses At County faIr!

Country girls can be beauty queens too

Queen: Madeline Hora Age: 17 Years of experience: 1“This was my one and only pageant, but I have been with the fair for eight years. I was really excited to be a queen and represent the coun-ty at the state fair.”

Walking around the Washington County fair you may have saw the royalty dressed very casually with their sash and crown all over the place, whether it was helping the children in the Oreo stacking contest, at the exhibits, or even barreling horses at the rodeo. Not only are these queens and princesses pretty and talented, but this royal family is willing to put down their crowns and get their hands dirty.

Miss Congeniality: Chelsa Bowlin Age: 18 Years of experi-ence: 1“I actually have no words to explain how I feel. It was crazy how all the girls voted for me to win Miss Con-geniality out of all the other 11 girls in the pageant. I am involved in the High school rode-os and for me to win something like this, is something I will not forget.”

Second runner up Princess: Bridget Nebel Age: 18Years of experi-ence: 9“It was a great experience. Just doing some-thing without the livestock and having all the little kids looking up to you. Winning makes you feel loved by your community, and it just feels over-whelming.”

Princess: Shari Temple Age: 18Years of experience: 9“I just absolutely love the fair. Not only do I enjoy the fair, but I enjoy the people. The whole pageant was really exciting, and just participat-ing was truly fun.”

QUEEN

PRINCESS

MISS

CONGENIALITY

2nd PRINCESS

By Lahney Vilayhong

FAIRQueen of the

Washington County Beauty Queen participates at the county fair as a community helper for shows and activities on July 16, 2013. Madeline Hora, 17, was an-nounced the new Washington

County Beauty Queen this past Sunday at the Community Center Pageant. “My friends and previous Fair Queens influenced me to sign up as a contestant for Queen. They said that I will be perfect for queen.” After a long day of interviews and competing with 11 other girls, the judges presented Madeline her Tiara and sage. Madeline is excited for the responsibili-ties to come as Queen. She helped at The Wash-ington County Fair by organizing the events. “I love my duties as Queen because I love to serve the community. I look forward to helping the upcoming events throughout the week.” Aside from Madeline assisting the community, she also has an opportunity represent Washington County at the beauty pageant in the Iowa State Fair on August 6.

It means a lot to me to represent Washing-ton County and I am re-ally honored. I look for-ward to the Iowa State Fair.

“

.”

By Jorge Martinez

“Ready, set, go!” is what the pie eating contestants hear right before they dig their faces into chocolate pie at the Wash-ington County Fair which is being held July 14-19. “We have been doing it [this compe-tition] for as long as I can remember,” said Brian Eakins, competition host. The competition hosts often break the groups into different ages. At the Wash-ington County Fair the groups were 4-7 year-olds , 8-11 year-olds, 12-15 year-olds, and 16 year-olds and up. There was a win-ner for each group. The winners this year were, Lane Schrock, Lanie Brown, Sonja Cochran, and Alvin Wong. Eleven-year-old Lanie Brown said, “The pie eating contest is my favorite part of the fair. I look forward to it every year.”

Prizes were given to the winners as well as the first and second runner up in each group. The winners were given a ribbon distinguishing their place as well as a cash prize. The money started at $10 and decreased a $1 for every place. The rules for the county fair’s pie eating contests were simple and easy to fol-low. You could not use your hands and they had to be behind your back. You also had to eat everything that was on your plate. If you did not follow these rules, you were warned the first time, and the second time you were disqualified. If you did not get a chance to go to the county fair and partake in the pie eating contests there is always next year. For more information on the fair, visit washington-countyfairia.com.

As easy as pie

Age group 15 and up dig their faces into pie in hopes of becoming the winner.

The winnerscircle

Lane Schrock

Lanie Brown

Sonja Cochran

Alvin Wong

Fair-goers gobble down pies as fast as they can. By Gabrielle Mejia

By: Cassidy Peterson94DEGREESA day at the county fair

Being hot, sweaty and sticky in public is not a fun to be or to think about; but last night (July 16, 2013) over 100 people suffered from extreme-ly hot weather at the Washington county fair in Washington, Iowa; and according to the weather station it was 91 degrees. At a fair you don’t have luxuries such as air conditioning everywhere you go. This makes the only three very small air conditioned buildings and tents for shade extra busy, and forces most people to wave a piece of paper on a stick in front of them to cool them down. Also there are no pools, and limited water to drink.

This may cause dehydration. A lot of people shouted at one another, “Stay cool out there.” Most buildings with no air conditioning had nothing but dusty old fans. Even the animals such as the sheep and rabbits were panting like crazy.

There were also animals that looked a little too hot. Some people had put thin blankets on their sheep, and without something cool a thin blan-ket can make a big difference. These sheep also looked more out of breath and tired, while the other ones were standing up and walking around. The blankets were not intentionally there for making them too hot and out of breath, but rather just to make their sheep look more stylish and less dirty.

This fair also had a lot more than just small air conditioned buildings it also offered a variety of activities including pie eating contest, frog jump-ing and Oreo stacking. This would hopefully keep the little kids cool and occupied.

What seemed weird was the fact that most people liked to eat things like hot extra sloppy, sloppy Joe and breaded crispy tenderloin. Why would they eat hot foods instead of cooler ones? It was also so hot that the major-ity of sales went to cool vanilla ice cream shakes and vibrant colored cherry snow-cones. Which is what made most people beat the heat and stay until the very end of this long fun and heat filled day.

AtTheFairThere are many attractions at the fair in Washington County,Iowa. From the food(mostly deep fried), to the rides, the games, and perhaps most popular, the rodeo, this fair has something for everyone.

Washington County Fairgrounds.

Lahney Vilayhong (midddle) and two other contestants during the pie eating contest.

Lahney Vilayhong after handless pie eating contest.

Cowboy Dillon Wood standing on bull pen fence during rodeo.

Bull entering pen during rodeo.

“That is harder than you think. That is much harder than you think.”-Lahney Vilay-hong after the pie eating contest.

“[The best part] is working with the kids.”- Ashley, strongman sledgeham-mer game operator.

“I enjoyed the colorful outfits of the rodeo peo-ple.”-Nova Meurice

Awaiting the Oreo stacking competition children anx-

iously gathered on stage with their friends and family cheer-

ing for them on Tuesday as a part of “Kidz Day” at the 2013 Washington County

Fair. Three separate age groups

of 4-7, 8-11, and 12-15 year olds ensured that everyone

would have a good time and a fair chance of winning. Each contestant had 30 seconds to stack Oreos as high as they

could with out the tower toppling over. The first place

winner won $8 and a blue ribbon.and a blue ribbon.

1st place 8-11 year olds

12 Oreos stacked

DP

1st place 4-7 yeard olds

14 Oreos stacked “I was justhaving fun, and the prize is awe-some!” said 7 year-old winner Lane Schrock. “My strategy was

to start a new column every time I felt the one I was working on lean. I’m really glad I won,” said 13 year-old Jacob Leonard.

“I was thinking I was not going to win because I am not good at stacking Oreos without them falling, but in the end I won!”said 8 year-old Ava Wulf.

STACK

1st place 12-15 year olds 3 Oreos stacked

How high can YOU

stack ‘em?

till you

R