Iowa State Fair 2008 Trip Report

One of my favorite places to visit at our state fair is the cultural building. Here is where you can see the artistic talents of Iowans from across the state. The building showcases photography, wood carving, painted china, paintings done in various media, miniature dollhouses, plus rooms showcasing art from Iowas young folks. Much of which is astounding. Ten year old Megan Snyder from my home town of Grimes took third place in her age group for this Q-Tip painting of our mutual pal Donald Duck.

This year the Budweiser Clydesdales are here. They visit about every five years. This is the first time I was able to see them locally. These are such beautiful animals. At 2:00 in the afternoon they were hitched up and traveled around the grounds. It was so cool. They even had a Dalmatian.



Earlier in the day we had stopped by the Agricultural building to check out some good ole Iowa Corn.



And of course the butter sculpture of Shaun Johnson.



This being Iowa we had to stop and check out the BIG livestock. Here is this years big bull.



And this years big boar.



In the sheep barn I was surprised by this years fashions. Look closly and you will notice that the sleeve this sheep is wearing has Blondie all over it.



But what really caught my attention was the sheep wearing the Team Voice sleeve next to Beetle Baily. Looks like we may have a mascot. I think his name is Murphy.



As a child I grew up watching Duane Ellett and Floppy. Duane passed away in 1987. Sadly he suffered a heart attack while jogging. Yesterday a laser etched paving stone was dedicated to his memory. Duane had begun a career in broadcasting and to help make ends meet he created Floppy and he would tour around Iowa entertaining folks. Eventually he had two spots on TV each day. A 15 minute show that followed the noon news and an afternoon show in which kids would be on set and after the third cartoon kids could line up and tell Floppy a joke and beep his nose. The cartoons were Loony Tunes and Popeye. I was on the show twice.



Once more this year a cast your kernel event was held. Simply two choices this year. Obama or McCain. If you enlarge the picture you will see how close the voting is.



And not far for the kernel booth was the vendor station I had been looking forward to all day.



So that was my day in a nutshell. Here is a parting picture for our pal Jonathan.