Watermelon-carving, motorcycles among highlights for busy day at Fair
Photos by Sue Cook
Jacques Gregoire shows off his four-eyed vampire Frankenstein to the others at his table. This was also the first year of the watermelon-carving contest. Barb Kurzowski created the contest hoping to attract artists.
Kate Hardner was the judge of the event. She was looking for originality, the level of difficulty and artistic creative presentation in her evaluation of the completed pieces.
“These are all very well done. I’m very impressed. I especially love the way some of them are carved partially into the rind creating other colors and good depth in the pieces,” said Hardner as she waited for the last contestants to finish.
The watermelon-carving contest had seven participants and a helper. Masterpieces in this picture include a penguin, a porcupine, a minion from “Despicable Me,” and a punch bowl.
Megan Bruning of Medina performed pottery demonstrations on Wednesday. She used the wheel to spin the clay and formed bowls with her hands. Here, she uses a metal rib to smooth the side of her creation. She has been making pottery for 14 years.
The Amazing Magic Joe wows the crowd by producing a signed ten-dollar bill from inside a fresh lemon. Joe’s illusions will continue taking place throughout the rest of the week at various parts of the fairgrounds.
Jim Barrett stands beside his 2008 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Custom during a motorcycle cruise-in.
Most of the motorcycles that came to the show were Harley-Davidsons. Throughout the cruise-in about a dozen bikes came in.
The senior showmanship class offered Natalie Mrzywka (left) and Janie Schutz the opportunity to show off their goats at the start of the event.
The Chainsaw Chix demonstration has returned for another year after demand for professional chainsaw artist Sara Winter brought her back for the fourth time. Winter has been carving for seven years. In this photo Winter carves an owl for over 50 onlookers.
“I don’t have an art background,” said Winter. “I saw someone do it at a fair and I’ve been trying ever since.”
At demonstrations, she carves does what she calls a quick carve, which is creating a piece for speed. She completes pieces in 45 minutes to an hour.
Sara Winter sells her completed pieces from next to the log cabin where she holds her demos on the fairgrounds. From near the front of her workspace, a fox watches the crowd.
