Day One of the Central Wisconsin State Fair in the Books
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018 -- 9:09 AM
(WDLB) -Day one of the Central Wisconsin State Fair in Marshfield is in the books, and Director Dale Christianson said the new start time for this year's event had a bit of a learning curve to it."People did not know what to expect. I guess, we did not know what to expect. And with this year's fair falling right after the dog show, there were some glitches and things that needed to be done and weren't quite as organized as people were used to in the past. And...let's say it was a trying day."
The fair is starting one week and one day earlier than in the past, avoiding the Labor Day weekend and the start of school. Also new this year is the carnival. The fair is now working with North American Midway Entertainment, which is now set up and ready to go for day two.
"It's not quite as open as it has been in the past. There's a lot of different rides. A lot of exciting things going on down there. And as we sit here and look out the window tonight in the evening, it's a beautifully lit carnival. It looks great.
The a-capella group Six Appeal took to the grandstand stage last night. Christianson said the crowds were not as good as he was expecting.
"I was told that, here a few years ago, when Home Free was here, it was full. But Home Free carried a little bit bigger name than what Six Appeal does. But, Six Appeal is kinda following in Home Free's footsteps, working probably the same agency in Minneapolis and doing the same types of music. Who knows?"
Reporter: "And maybe it had something to do with the fact that, boy, Tuesday night it was was a lot cooler than anybody had expected or anticipated."
"I think that had an effect on the whole day. It was cooler all day. It was windy. It had some effect on what we were able to do with the high dive act throughout the day. People have been so used to the warmer summer that we've had that it seemed a lot cooler than it actually is, but I think it had an effect."
As always, there was a great crowd for the annual "Dress-A-Cow" contest in the Jer Lang Show Palace. The event was won by Lilly Ratsch, Alexis Redmond and 11-year-old Ava Jones from Pittsville's Pleasant Corners 4-H.
"It took a while to figure out what we were going to come up with because we had two main ideas that we were going to do. And then we decided to do the ice cream truck. And the ice cream truck is based on our local ice cream truck in Pittsville. And so we decided it would be a cool idea to do this."
Redmond said the entry came together with some very basic items.
"We kinda of just got a refrigerator box, went to Walmart, got some really great duct tape and it kinda just came together. Cut it into the right shape.
This year's contest was judged by the Executive Committee that ran last month's Wood County Farm Technology Days just outside Marshfield. It is day two of the fair, and Christianson says today is Senior Citizens Day.
"We've had a lot of phone calls as to what time the Memories are playing. The seniors want to see the Memories and they will be at 3pm in the tent on Wednesday. The other new thing that we're bringing in that will be in the tent is the Dolly Pops, which is two gals. It's a very entertaining, music type of show for the kids. And I think the kids are going to enjoy that show."
On the grandstand stage tonight, John Michael Montgomery performs at 7:30 p.m. For more information, log on to centralwisconsinstatefair.com.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.