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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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