 Good evening and welcome to the 2011 Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair Gala. My name is Heather Leipam and I am so happy to be here. While many of you know me as the person who is usually next to the person at the microphone, I was honored to be asked by the committee to MC and share this exciting evening with all of you. Many of you also know that I am from Sheboygan County, born and raised, but what you may not know is that when I was very young, my parents were fortunate to discover a farmhouse for rent that was owned by the Ernst family just west of Plymouth. And while the Ernst family operated the farm on site, my parents and I lived there several years and that was my introduction to agriculture. Now in the last few years, I've had the privilege of working on committees that planned components of farm technology days and the Alice and Dairyland finals. Those events were amazing successes due to many of you in this room and they come around from time to time. But what could be more important than the culmination of all that is best about Sheboygan County agriculture than the county fair's events every year? This is truly a special place that I know I couldn't be more proud to be from or happier to call home and with my husband Joe, the person usually at the microphone, raise our three children in and we are looking forward to making more family memories of our own at the fair again this year. We have a great night ahead. Thank you all for being here, supporting our candidates and the Ferris program. Tonight, we'll not only learn more about the talents of these young people but of their passion and dedication to their community and the significance of agriculture and the county fair to them. The county fair indeed holds unique memories for many and who would know better than our 2010 Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair, Brianna Wimler. Let's welcome Brianna. Thank you and welcome everyone to the 2011 Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair Gala. My name is Brianna Wimler and I had the privilege to serve as the 2010 Ferris. Tonight, we will be choosing the person who will replace me and today I got to know the nine great girls that are competing for this position. We started early this morning and have been running at 100 miles an hour all day in order to get ready for the events tonight. We practiced our speeches, we perfected their introductions and worked on interview questions and talking about what it takes to be a great Ferris and I know that all of them would become great Ferris and so I'm really glad to be here tonight and I'd like you to join me in a round of applause and wish them all great luck tonight. Thank you. We'd like to take this moment to recognize our men and women that are serving for our freedom, those that have given their lives and those that have served our veterans who are here tonight. We salute you and ask you to stand so we may thank you for your service. We'd like to ask you to please stand and we'll welcome Elise Black and Cole Booth of Sheboygan County 4-H to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Time to meet our candidates for the 2011 Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair in alphabetical order. Rachel Bonhoff. What do you get when you cross a bookworm with a can of caffeine? You get Rachel K. Bonhoff. That's me. I'm 18 and I live and work on a family farm in Pullman with my two loving parents, Mark and Sherry Bonhoff and my three extremely tall siblings. I also work at Camp Evelyn for Girl Scouts. I'm also a member and president of the Limelight's 4-H club. I love showing the three C's, Cat's, Cary's and Cow's and my dreams are to be a writer and to be a Lutheran egg teacher. I especially love to make people smile. So are you smiling yet? Please welcome Lauren Bovot. I'm from in Plymouth, Wisconsin and I'm currently attending Concordia University for occupational therapy with a business minor. After graduating Concordia, I hope to start my own therapy program specializing in pediatrics. I have been a member of the Sheboygan County 4-H for the past 12 years and I've had an incredible and amazing experience by ahead of me and I hope to be the next Sheboygan County Ferris wheel fair. Thank you. Please welcome Brittany Faber. I grew up on my family's hobby farm with chickens, pigs and beef kettle as I exhibited them at the fair as well. Assistant Hertzman, managing, working with 1,000 cow dairy. In my spare time, I enjoy playing volleyball and spending time with my little sister through the Big Brother, Big Sister program. Thank you. I'm Brittany Sponson, November Falls, studying biology to become a doctor of veterinary medicine. Over the years, I volunteered in a variety of activities such as hurricane relief in New Orleans and using my leadership in student council throughout high school and college to better those around me. I'm a born leader and would use my skills to build the important role of Ferris wheel fair. Thank you. I'm from the Sheboygan County Fair and show rabbit. I also was the Sheboygan County Rabbit Ambassador. Thank you. So milk house on the dairy farm, which is my job, my full-time job. And I also feed the calves and of course, the pet to see this fall to get my CNI license and hopefully be hired in a nursing home or in a hospital. Thank you for coming. And again, my name is Jolie. Mikayla Pockner, studying communications, emphasizing in journalism and photography. After college, I would love to trail to impoverished parts of the world and share my experiences with others. My career goal is to write for a magazine. Thank you. And now please welcome, Katie Reineking. I'm part of Steve and Patty Reineking. This past May, I graduated from the University of River Falls with a bachelor degree in dairy science. Currently, I work on our family farm, Kingsley Holsteins, where I'm the herd manager. One day, I hope to co-own our farm with my brother and be able to expand. Thank you. Now, please welcome, Ashley Ryan. I'm proud to say I've grown up living between my parents' farm and living in downtown to work with my family. I'm going to be attending UW-Chaball even in the fall and I've just graduated from Hart's Girls High School. Thank you for attending tonight and I'm honored to be here. Thank you. Thank you to all of our candidates. It is my honor to introduce to you a very special guest joining us this evening. Alexis Nicolotti is the 2011 Wisconsin Ferris of the Fairs. Alexis grew up in a small dairy farm just outside of Genoa with her large family, parents Steve and Gina, and four younger siblings. They have all been active in 4-H since a very young age, showing swine at the Vernon County Fair. Let's give her a great Sheboygan County welcome. Alexis Nicolotti, your 2011 Wisconsin Ferris to the Ferris. I have been spending this entire day with all of these fine candidates and good luck to all of you guys who've been doing a great job. It's been an honor to get to meet all of you. So my passion is in the fairs and it means so much to me to have so many people here supporting the fair and the Ferris program. I just finished my junior year at Platteville where I am studying business marketing and I have already received my minor in biology. I'm involved in cheerleading. I'm also involved in track and I'm an RA at the housing department down there. I'm so excited for this upcoming summer to visit all of the fairs and do all these different Ferris galas and all of that. So thank you so much for that opportunity. I can't wait to travel to the many, many different counties. So I grew up in Vernon County on a small dairy farm and I was showing at the Vernon County Fair, I showed swine and one of my most favorite experiences with doing so is I painted the swine's toenails before every show and I was sharing that with the candidates earlier today. So it was a lot of fun to do that. I would love to encourage everyone here today to make it to one of those 76 fairs around the state, especially the Shabuigan one, but as well I'd like to invite you to the 160th Wisconsin State Fair. It's presented by U.S. cellular August 4th through the 14th and it's got, that's 11 days, 11 days of entertainment for all ages and there's so much going on. We have one of the fun new things this year is they're having doggy weddings and they're gonna dress the dogs up, have bridesmaids, groomsmen, all of that along with a adolescent personator that will be marrying them. So that's great entertainment that'll be going on every day. They also have a grizzly bear show that will be going on and you'll get to also, there'll be a show that's going on to show you all the different things that these grizzly bears can do. However, they also have them in their natural habitat so that children in anyone of all ages can come and see how it is that they live. So it's a fun experience. So with all of that that's going on at the Fair, there's also the Pottawatomie main stage and there's such large entertainment coming this year that there's surely something for all ages. My favorite and the one that I'm the most excited for is MC Hammer. So I cannot wait, cannot wait for that performance. There's also Blake Shelton, ZZ Top, and tons of other performers that are coming. All I'd like to say is encourage all of you to go to WI State Fair and there's the complete listing of events in different entertainment that's going on. So come on visit the Wisconsin State Fair August 4th through the 14th. It's 11 days of entertainment for all ages. So thank you once again for having me tonight. If I did, I had such a blast getting to know everyone today. So enjoy the rest of the evening and I hope I get to see some of you later. Thank you, Alexis. Now we'd like to introduce our selection panel. The selection team started at 12 o'clock noon today with individual interviews, group interviews, and then a light dinner with the candidates so far. Their jobs aren't over yet as the candidates are still being evaluated on their professionalism, speaking ability, and fair knowledge. I will ask that they please stand as we recognize them and thank them for their commitment to the program. Stephanie Benversi. Stephanie was our 42nd Alice in Dairyland. She holds a master's degree in home economics education from UW-Stout. Stephanie and her husband, Randy, reside in Manitowoc with their three active children. Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom and enjoys visiting her older children that reside at colleges out of state. Thank you, Stephanie. John Rasmussen. John is from Fond du Lac and a dairy specialist for Vita Plus Corporation, an agricultural company that manufactures livestock feed for dairy cows, beef cattle, and swine and includes nutrition consulting and on-farm troubleshooting. John holds a bachelor's science degree in dairy science from UW-Madison and enjoys supporting the Badger teams. Go Red. Thank you, John. Sarah Bradison. Sarah is from Latoma. She is a Northeast Regional Editor for Country Today newspaper. She graduated from UW Eau Claire with a degree in journalism and is a co-author of Stories Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. Sarah is a licensed cheese maker and specializes in promoting Wisconsin dairy goat products. Please join me in thanking the selection panel for their time and dedication to these women in our Ferris program. Thank you. At this time, we'd also like to recognize our special guests who are with us this evening. We've met, there are 2010 Ferris of the Fair Breanna Wimler, Breanna. Also, again, our Wisconsin Ferris of the Fair is Alexis Nicolatti. Our 2004 Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair and featured guest, Nicole Noll. We have former Ferris also Aaron Jens in attendance. We'd also like to welcome Dr. Roger and Barbara Siegert, Foundation Sponsors. Jean and Kathy Kessner, Foundation Sponsors. The Manitouac Ferris of the Fair, do you understand is with us tonight? Okay, thank you. We have State Representative Steve Kistel, our official photographer, Leslie Blatt of Photos by Leslie Faye, and Sheboygan County Fair members, Fair Board members in attendance. Dan Huberix, Dave Moves, Ron Rail and Lois Rail, Gary Vanderkin and William Rush. Thank you for being here and supporting our program. Okay, are we ready? Here we go. At this time, we're ready to move into the applicant's radio advertisements and impromptu questions on stage. The women drew an order this afternoon for this component of the contest. The first candidate tonight is Makayla Popner, all and a graduate of Random Lake High School. She is currently attending the University of Wisconsin Green Bay majoring in communications. She is currently employed by SHOPCO as an Apparel Sales Floor Associate. Her future goals include studying abroad and to become a writer or editor for a music or fashion magazine, Makayla. For us with friends and family, enjoying great Wisconsin weather, maybe it's screaming at the top of your lungs on a wild amusement ride, or maybe it's just snacking on hot, buttery corn on the cob. Where can you enjoy all this excitement at the Sheboygan County Fair? Join us September 1st through 5th at Plymouth Fair Park for all this excitement and more. Thank you. Thank you, Makayla. And now we will ask her the impromptu question. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of Ferris of the Fair? In the Scott Pioneers Club for nine years, and I absolutely enjoyed it. It was my number one activity throughout high school and middle school in the addition. I enjoyed it so much that when I couldn't be in 4-H, I looked for another opportunity to participate in the fair. And I found the Ferris of the Fair program. And I found this was the best fit for me to try and contribute to the Sheboygan County Fair even after I left 4-H. Thank you. Thank you, Makayla. Next we'll welcome Lauren Bobot. Lauren is from Plymouth and a graduate of Plymouth High School. She is currently attending Concordia University, Wisconsin. She is employed as a special needs caregiver for an adult with disabilities and also employed at the Mequon Chancery as a hostess and serves as liaison between the Chancery and Concordia University. Her future goals are to become an occupational therapist and found her own therapy program for kids with special needs. Welcome, Lauren. Good day. Gates open at noon. See you there. Two questions. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of Ferris of the Fair? Has definitely shaped my abilities as far as becoming Ferris of the Fair and filling that role because of all the wonderful experiences there. I've been there for so many years. The animal products are incredible. The great food, the concerts, everything is just incredible and it would be awesome to be as involved in the Sheboygan County Fair as I possibly can. As I continue through my life. Thank you. Brittany Faber. Brittany is 20 and a graduate of Plymouth High School and Lakeshore Technical College where she received a technical diploma in Dairy Heard Management. She is currently employed at Soaring Eagle Dairy as Assistant Heard's Person and owner operator of D&B Cattle Company. Her future goals are to continue advancing in her business by selling affordable and profitable club calves for the show circuit. Brittany. I'm at the Sheboygan County Fair September 1st who will fit at the Sheboygan County Fair Park and present out your thing. There's plenty of music and entertainment to go around. Not to mention the various livestock shows to attend. I hope to see you at the fair. Thank you. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of Ferris of the Fair? Do you need the question please? Sure, of course. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of Ferris of the Fair? When I was 10 years old, I exhibited livestock at the fair including swine and beef cattle and I always looked up to them and the Ferris as a role model as an excellent position. And I feel I've developed leadership qualities such as fulfill the leadership as a Ferris of the Fair. I've also exhibited woodwork and took part in four rejectives at the fair as well that has led me to a part of the film, the Ferris position. So thank you. Thank you. Jolene Menting. I'm Waldo and a graduate of Sheboygan Falls High School. She is attending Concordia University of Wisconsin. She is currently employed by her family farm Split Rail Acres where she is responsible for a multitude of tasks including milking and general care of all farm animals. Her future goals include exploring her options within the field of agriculture while continuing to be involved in her family's dairy farm. Jolene. In our Sheboygan County Fair, September 1st of the Fin. There's a family affair this year including Grand Cratchit, the longer debt shows, and of course the animal sales. But don't forget we have nightly change-ups including a monster truck show, race cars, and of course the demolition derby. So come join me, Sheboygan County Fair of the Fair, Jolene Menting, September 1st of the Fin at Plymouth Fair Park. Thank you. Jolene, here's the impromptu question. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of fairest of the fair? Come first, Sheboygan County Fair. There's so many things that if you go to the fair just one day, you'll completely forget about something on the other side. So knowing from the 4-H building through up to the horse barn is really fantastic to know for a fairest because you'd wanna explore other reasons to tell everyone else to come to the fair, not only meet you, but to see everything. Thank you. Heather is from Usberg and a graduate of Usberg High School and Lakeshore Technical College where she received a technical diploma in Dairy Heard Management. She is attending Moraine Park Technical College where she was on the waiting list for the veterinary technician program. Her future goals are to become a veterinary technician and work as a Heard's person, calf razor. Heather. I'm listening from Ryte's notification. Thank you. A prompt to question for Heather. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of fairest of the fair? Okay, my fair experience has shaped my career by seeing all the wonderful kids and animals is a big part of my career with being a vet technician and I just wanna show the kids how much there is to animals and how much responsibility and a great learning experience it is for them. Thank you. Stephanie Kemp. Stephanie is from Plymouth and a graduate of Sheboygan Lutheran High School. She is currently attending UW River Falls where she is working toward her bachelor degree in biology. She is currently employed by the UW River Falls Art Department in the Art Gallery and is also employed by the Plymouth Aquatic Center as a lifeguard and lessons instructor. Her future goals are to apply to the Peace Corps to volunteer for services and then attend veterinary school. The Sheboygan County Fair was more fun than you can bear once to give you chills and for more. So come learn, explore and enjoy for every man, woman, girl and boy. Just take a short quick ride to see our Sheboygan County pride. This September 1st through 5th is something you won't want to miss. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of fairest of the fair? Well, since I've been involved, the fair will live and implement for so long. The fair has been a big part of my life being involved in 4-H. It has influenced me to run for fairest of the fair because it's such an enjoyable time in my life and I look forward to the fair every single year and I want to promote the fair so other people can experience the fun and enjoyment that it all offers. Thank you. Ashley Ryan. Ashley is from Sheboygan. She's a graduate of Howard Grove High School and will be attending UW-Sheboygan majoring in agribusiness. She is currently employed by Lino Ristorante Italiano as a server assistant. Her future goals include working in the marketing field to help promote agribusiness and complete her rating of a horse management fee in the United States Pony Club. Ashley. Here's a fair inviting you to come out to the fair September 1st through the 5th. Bring the family out for some fun family entertainment including tractor poles, grandpa cratchet and the lumberjack show. We're featuring some great fans this year including the UW marching band, Red Star Express, Copper Box and Vic Ferrari. It's five days of affordable family entertainment at the Sheboygan County Fair. See you there. How has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of fairest of the fair? My fair experience, I've always had a lot of fun at the Sheboygan County Fair. It's a really outgoing experience and I've had so many great memories at the fair and I want to be able to share those memories with people and help make so many families and kids have great memories that they want to be able to come back to the fair with their family and with their friends and share those great experiences with all the people around them. I want to be able to just promote the fair as a whole for families and kids and I want to just share all those memories with everyone because I've had so many great memories over all the years I've been there. Thank you. Katie Reina King. Katie is from Plymouth and a graduate of Howard's Grove High School and the University of Wisconsin River Falls with a Bachelor of Science degree in Dairy Science. She is currently employed by Kingsview Holsteens, her family farm, where she is a full-time milker and is involved in the breeding and nutrition of the animals. Her future goals include owning and expanding her own family farm. Katie. Music, lumberjacks, tractor farm, indulged in hot Wisconsin cheese, funnel cakes, and cream puffs while kids scream on rides and beg for a pound candy and snow cones. Blue ribbon animals and buildings full of 4-H projects. Fun is guaranteed for the whole family at the Sheboygan County Fair. Labor Day weekend, September 1st through the 5th. Katie, how has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of Ferris of the Fair? Well, the fair has helped me decide to run for Ferris because it is something that has always been important to me and I think being able to teach kids and show kids and families different parts of the fair is very important and also very educational. Thank you. And Rachel Bonoff. Rachel is from Plymouth and a graduate of Sheboygan Lutheran High School. She will be attending Concordia University this fall to major in secondary education, English and biology. She is currently employed at Fantasy Farms where she is a small animal caretaker and groundskeeper. She is also employed at Camp Evelyn where she is a camp counselor. Her future goals are to write and to become a published author. Rachel. Words like Raj Fry, yup, random leg art and do you know that the Packers are the best footballs that's in Plymouth, Lumberjack and Band Rocky, four wheel smashing, car smashing, Ferris wheeling, produce judging and of course, cream puff snarking time. Prompt to question, how has your fair experience shaped your decision to run for the position of fairest of the fair? I've gone to the fair every year of my life that I can remember and I've gradually done more and more things at the fair. I started showing and stuff, you know, cats and cows and you know, I started spending longer time at the fair and there's also a second part of me as you know and that's the love princesses and happy endings and I just, every time I'm showing I see this, they're always very beautiful. I'm just gonna say it's the fairest of the fair and she's her sparkly crown and she always just seems so amazing and happy and just inspired me and so I'm like, I want to be like that and I also have an older sister who I look up to and she was gonna run with me for fairest of the fair and we're gonna do it together even though only one could win it probably wouldn't have been either of us but unfortunately she had finals and she wasn't able to but I'm here because fairest of the fair inspired me and the fair inspired me to run just because I'm so in love with the fair and just being able to express it and of course all those amazing romance around me so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well done candidates. Let's show them our appreciation for their onstage presence. At this time, we'll please excuse our judges. Thank you judges. So good evening friends. Thanks for coming out to celebrate the candidates that have brought so much talent to our county and our evening. If you get the opportunity you should get their autograph like I did. They've worked hard to be here and to present their talents. Congratulations to you all. I'd like to also congratulate Brianna for her term and serving and helping our county grow with the fair and the people that you meet. She's a passionate woman that I got to talk with. I'd also like to thank the fairest of the fair committee for welcoming me back, inviting me back. I think I was your favorite. I like what is it like to be fairest of the fair a little bit and tell you what getting involved could mean and where it could take you in life. So I had to do a little bit of digging into the history. Yes, I dusted off my journals, my binders, my videos, my photographs, like the scrapbook that Brianna made. A couple of interesting things. The first one that stands out is my first parade in Elkhart Lake. There was a young man that came up to me just like you had mentioned in the tiara and the sash. He was all in awe. Can I take a picture with you? Well, of course I would oblige. And his mother came up to snap the picture. Little did I know she was gonna run home during the parade, print it off and bring me a copy. At the end, that was an inspiration for me my entire term hanging on the bathroom mirror. So that's a priceless memory that you get. I also found out that I tried three times for fairest of the fair because people like Jessica Ford had inspired me while she was fairest. And then I earned the title. During my term, I learned a couple of things. Like things about myself that made me seek the Dale Carnegie public speaking course. And that made me get a sales job, fall in love and get married. Some things in my history book are amazing and some things we'll just call history. But my point is that past experiences can fuel your future. It can either propel you to achievements or it can push you to learn things and to grow. For instance, tonight, I'm asking each of you to be your best and maybe participate a little bit. Would you please raise your hand if you're a fan of the Sheboygan County Fair? Hopefully that's everyone in the room. Yes, they're all there. Okay, keep the hands in the air. You're gonna raise them a little bit higher. If like the candidates talked about you have a favorite memory from the Sheboygan County Fair. Hands can go a little higher in there. That's great. And if you're gonna be excellent, you're gonna stretch like those little ones over there and get it really high in the air. Thanks. Good job being put those down. Welcome to the edge of your comfort zone. It's an amazing place to be and things that you find. Running for Ferris is the first place to stretch that comfort zone, which our candidates have done. And you can do every day, finding your talents and your skills by encouraging other people. Did I know that the encouragement of a friend in 2004 was gonna land me the serving as Ferris of the Fair? Did I know that was gonna take me to the Dale Carnegie program in 2006? And that I'd meet a wonderful man who would become my husband in 2008? No, couldn't protect that stuff. But it was wonderful to get there. And a few things have changed a long way. It's okay to make adjustments. Like, I had a dream of being Alice in Dairyland. I traded that for family life in a career in Green Bay. But I stayed true to my passion of agriculture. In fact, yesterday I took my in-laws to the Audigamy County breakfast on the farm to show them a modern milking parlor. 12 on each side, machines going. And in July, I'm taking my husband on a vacation to the Marathon County Farm Technology Days near Marshfield. I'm sure he married me for adventures like that. Our future endeavors include starting a Brown County Ferris of the Fair program because lessons like this, I can apply other places. Hosting an Alice in Dairyland finals, hopefully before moving back to Sheboygan County. What does your future look like? Are you willing to impact somebody in the next day, week, month, year, like these girls are committing to? Encouraging them to touch agriculture or the Sheboygan County Fair? Please do it and open the opportunities. Like last year, we came up with a photo scavenger hunt for a friend of ours that was engaged. Yes, we used the Sheboygan County Fair. We had to play in the sandbox, we had to go to the horse barn, those kind of things. And now every fair season, that's gonna make us remember the time that Katie got on the stage with Mount Madison County. As I close, there's a few nuggets of wisdom that I'd like to pass on. It's not only the candidates, but everyone in the room that you can count your blessings and achievements often. Those are the moments that define you. Being here tonight defines you, it's a moment. Even though only one person gets the title tonight, everyone in this room is a fair promoter and you can continue to do it. In fact, you can take action tomorrow. Offer a word of encouragement because history is made and legacies are built by the people in this room. Then make this the year that you chase your dreams. Fast or slow, you'll get there, like I did. And you'll inspire or assist others along the way. Thank you for being part of my adventure, whether it was six plus years ago or tonight. And thank you, I hope you have a wonderful treatment. Thank you, Nicole. Now we'd like to ask Gary Vanderkin, the president of the Sheboygan County Fair Association to provide us with an update of the 2011 Sheboygan County Fair. And Nicole talks of a comfort level. It's not me up here, believe me, I hate this. Not good at it. Courtney Drags-Milpia, we're here to occupy a little time. And I'm here. Okay, yeah, okay. You take care of that. Hats off to Courtney and her committee for doing a great job. Nine candidates, probably a record, I'm guessing. You did a great job. I get up here and I'll forget things I wanted to say. Vernon County, where are you from in Vernon County? 20 years of my best times ever, third weekend in November, deer hunting, never forget it. There's more deer, I can get a deer in Vernon County. Anybody can get a deer in Vernon County. You can get a deer in Vernon County? I just had to ask you that, I'm sorry. Okay, update on the fair. First of all, everybody says you gotta change the fair. How do you change the fair? It's kind of the way it is, you know? We have tractors, we have animals and stuff like that. There's not much you can change up, you know? We've been very successful. Last year we had a little glitch. We took a bath, literally, financially. We had a little tough year last year. We're gonna come back, we'll come back strongly this year. Thursday night we're gonna start out with our animal sale again and our local tractor pull. Friday evening, we're gonna go with the big tractor pull and Saturday, we're gonna mix it up a little bit and Saturday night, I think we're gonna go racing, correct, Saturday night we're gonna do a little race program. We're kind of successful at racing. It's not a big, it's not a big, we're not gonna lose money on it, let's say that, okay? Sunday night we're gonna go and try a little monster truck. Sunday night we're gonna try a monster truck pull and then the afternoon we have the UW band, we have the Ferturity Show and they tell me I'm not a real big animal person, you know? But they say our Ferturity Show is the envy of all the state. And hands off to them people who have put this together and years ago we spent some money to fared it and we got them going and they took over and it's all them now. They do a great job and I'm not kidding, we are the envy of the whole state on that. So, like Sunday night we're gonna try this monster truck thing. I don't know if it's gonna work or not, we hope it is. And then Monday, Monday is Teradon Day but we're gonna do that Demo Derby which is just fantastically successful. Now that's probably 10 albums and she's calling them and I can't help it, that's just the way it is. I'm not a good doctor. I just wanna defend ourselves a little bit too. People will be looking for the big axe and I just wanna tell you right now we're not gonna do the big axe for a while. We're not gonna do them this year and probably next year either. I know we are contracting for next year we're getting together with a motocross deal which I think is gonna be very good but we need a lot of dirt and we're getting a lot of dirt in for that next year. But I just wanted to say that nobody really knows what these axe costs. Last year we had sticks and they cost us and I'm not kidding, it was $55,000 just for one axe. We had a country axe and I stand here and I forgot the guy's name but it was $35,000 to $45,000 for a country axe and we didn't do good. Now that's just the axe themselves that doesn't include the stage, the lighting, the sound. To produce them two shows last year cost us $163,000. We have to hire 20 stage hands to set up and to tear down. I just wanna defend us because people ask me all the time what about the big axe? Well, we're not gonna do the big axe this year and I don't know if we can for a long time to come with the casinos, with summer fest, with country fest, with rock fest this year. We just can't compete. But we're looking forward to a great fair and in fact, if we wanted the fair tomorrow, we could. We're ready to go. Everything's set in place. We have a few things to do. We have to walk a few different pans maybe but I thought I'm a hard of tap. Okay. So we're ready to go and thank you this evening for coming and I really appreciate it. Thank you, Courtney and you for many for what you do for us. Thank you. As we prepare for our entertainment portion of the evening, we will take the chance to formally chat with the candidates. We spoke earlier and talked about what we might do this about while we set up. And we thought we could ask each of us if we all want to share a fair experience that's special to you or perhaps something, if you covered that maybe in something else that you talked about today or something about this experience that stands out and special to you. Thank you. We're going to leave on Rebecca if you know what I'm going to do. I'm just going to guide you by if you're going to get to your specific, especially if you're going to be left. So let me take that and start making work with you. I'm going to show you how much that you spoke up and she's a good date. I'm going to do that now. I'm just going to let you know that it's a little bit of a strange thing. Any company needs to hear you. She was like, what? And it was very, very strange. I'm going to stand out to you. One of my first years at the fair, I was showing a duck. And I was so excited about this duck. I got him for my birthday, a little before I left and he came from my uncle's. Took him to the fair and he got judged and the ducks get judged in their cage where the other chickens, we take up to the judge come up for showmanship and the judge goes, do you know what you have a problem with your duck? Somebody told me, but he's handicapped. My duck was the best ever. Probably should have worked a little harder with them. Not going to lie. And showmanship, I was trying to pen them and when it's hot and they're not well tamed, they tend not to listen. Well, frustration and impatience built up and thankfully the judge understood what the weather conditions I might pick did not want to cooperate, but I'll take a reserve champion showman which was pretty exciting, but that was probably the most memorable man. I can't think of just one memory. So I'd have to say my favorite part of the fair is seeing all the animals. It's sad that they aren't all mine, but it is nice to see all the people who are dedicated to showing their animals and seeing how nice and soft and fuzzy the rabbits are. When I first started showing, I showed dairy. I got through the first round and I was gonna go clean my halt there and little did I know that I adjusted the thing and when I did showmanship, she got loose and ran wild. Luckily my dad was there to catch her and bring her back to me. I started showing my horse. I walked in, I was so ready. I had the naughtiest horse ever. None of you know who my horse is. He was young and I was young and I walked up to the judge and he was staying still. She laughs at me and turns my hat around. I walked into the room with my hat on backwards. Five years myself, along with other members of the Shibuya County Sewing Project, were proud to bring high fashion to Shibuya County Fair. Especially being in dairy, but one that sticks out was one year I'm always told you sign that your animal's up, you've got to take them off. And this was the first year and only that I was told to keep one home because no one else liked her, but I did. And I did all the work with her and I walked out of the ring with first place in the troll. I had my pony at fair and I thought it'd be really fun to do a costume class with my cousin. So we took all this effort to paint the pony black and white striped like a jailed costume. Yeah, my company's laughing. And it took like two hours to paint the pony and we got these costumes. We were all excited, you know, rolled the pony and the ring double. We thought we were gonna get first place and we got like a third. Our entertainment, as you can see, is brought to us by the hardworking 4-H Club members and parents of the Johnsonville Hustlers 4-H Club. They will be presenting Thanksgiving dinner, a lesson in cooperation. I wanted to say this, may I have the envelopes please? The first mention, sorry, a little more suspense. The second runner-up will receive a $100 cash award from the Ferris program. The first runner-up will be active, filling the shoes of the Ferris in areas where she is not able to attend. First runner-up will receive a $200 cash award from Jean and Kathy Kessner. Thank you, Kessners. Our 2011 Ferris of the Fair will be responsible for serving as a Sheboygan County Fair official host Labor Day Weekend, as well as participate and represent Sheboygan County in the state competition in January. The winner this evening will be receiving the Dr. Roger M. Barbara Seegard Family Foundation Scholarship of $500. Thank you, Seegards. Additionally this year, the winner will be receiving a $250 scholarship award from a grant provided by the 2006 Farm Technology Days in Sheboygan County Committee. Please step forward as your name is called. We have a drum roll. Our 2011 second runner-up is Jolene Mending. Sheboygan County Ferris of the Fair supporting you wherever your paths lead in the future. And thank you all for supporting these outstanding candidates. The Ferris of the Fair program and the Sheboygan County Fair, please stay enjoy each other's company. Have a safe ride home. Good night. Thank you. Thank you.