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 Area residents used snowblowers, snow plows and snow shovels to dig out from a winter storm that hit late Friday and Saturday. Another storm is to hit tonight. Staff photo/William Laney MIKE BURKHOLDER
and WILLIAM LANEY
Staff Writers
A winter snow storm, which dumped as much as 3 feet in the Washington, D.C. area, hit the area with as much as 9 inches of snow in Wapakoneta and some areas of Auglaize County.
The snowfall came with high winds which created drifts as tall as 4 feet causing hazards for the city and county roadways.
Wapakoneta weather observer Dan Dietz calculated 8.5 inches of snow fell in Wapakoneta Friday and Saturday. The National Weather Service is predicting as much as 10 more inches starting with a light snow at midnight with most of the snow falling throughout the day Tuesday before tapering off early Wednesday morning.
Wapakoneta Public Works Superintendent Meril Simpson said city crews hit the roads at 4 a.m. Saturday, but the high winds hampered their effforts.
Crews worked until 4:15 p.m.. Saturday and returned Sunday and worked from 7 a.m. to 1p.m. before heading back out early this morning.
“We are attempting to clear the roadways the best we can and we are dumping more salt and grit this time,” Simpson said this morning. “The temperature is still too cold for the salt to work, but if we get enough sun it may warm it up enough to help.”
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Monday, 10 August 2009 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
The sounds of cows, horses and chickens could be heard from a barn at the Auglaize County Fair on Saturday night, but those noises did not come from any animals.
Waynesfield resident Mitchell Thompson, 16, could emulate the sounds of goats, cows, horses, chickens and more during the Animal Calling Contest with his topic “barnyard.”
“I do it all the time during school,” Thompson said, as he held the largest trophy given away at the Auglaize County Fair.
During the fair, Thompson said he also shows a steer, but Saturday’s trophy was a record in his collection.
“I’m happy,” Thompson said. “It’s the biggest trophy I’ve ever won.”
Hannah Leis, 8, competed in the Animal Calling Contest with the sound of a chicken.
“I thought I was good,” Leis, a Spencerville resident, said of why she entered. “I practiced.”
Leis said she discovered her talent for mimicking chickens at home.
“We have chickens at home,” Leis said, noting that her favorite part of the fair is looking at the animals.
Her sister, Emma Lies, emulated a wolf during Saturday’s competition.
“I tried last year,” the six-year-old said. “I practiced all year for this one.”
Emma Lies said she came upon her talent for howling from hearing the real thing.
“We live near a river and I always hear the coyotes,” Lies said. “I call back.”
Two area residents entered the Animal Calling Contest with “fighting ducks.”
St. Marys resident Kelly Wilker, 10, and Minster resident Amanda Lehmkuhl, 11, said they thought of the fighting chickens when they competed in the Animal Calling Contest last year.
“Last year we did angry ducks,” Wilker said. “This year we decided to add stuff like the water.”
Lehmkuhl said the two like to compete in the contest.
“We do it because it’s just for fun,” Lehmkuhl said.
Both the Animal Calling and the Best Dressed Animal contests are sponsored by Cargill Agriculture and have been around for approximately 10 years. Other animal sounds that competitors imitated included kittens, turkeys and a cow with her newborn calf.
Junior Fair Board President Krystal Thompson elicited laughter when she called up all the Junior Fair Board members present.
She called them to the front and when they ran to the front of the ring, she said her “animal” call worked.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 August 2009 )
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