By Tom Morphet
The 40th annual Southeast Alaska State Fair kicks off noon Thursday,
promising new attractions alongside old favorites during four days of music,
entertainment, competitions, rides, exhibits and food.
Resident Greg Podsiki has entered exhibits, volunteered, judged or
worked at the fair each year since moving here in 1979. He’s partial to traditional
exhibits of livestock, food and vegetables, but he expects new spectator events will steal
the show.
"The sumo wrestling and bull-riding are going to be the big hits,
for sure. Everybody’s going to love that," he predicted Tuesday, while preparing
his family’s burrito booth at the fairgounds.
Kelly Hostetler, who started as fair manager in January, said
she’s enthused about the new additions, including a children’s carnival and
petting zoo, but she’s hoping classic events like the Carnival of Casseroles
don’t get overlooked.
"I’m just excited to see it all come together. Being able to
add new events puts a certain drain on the volunteer community, but everybody’s
really stepped up. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without people coming out and
saying, ‘I’ll do that.’"
A mechanic bull from Juneau will be the first cowboy-themed event in
town since the fair hosted a rodeo in the mid-1990s. Owner Robby Harris has taken the
machine throughout Southeast and said the best riders aren’t usually the
toughest-looking.
"You’ve got to limber up. Those big old, burly ones
don’t stay on too good. It’s not a matter of strength. It’s a matter of
balance," Harris said. Greenhorns who survive the first eight seconds get a
moment’s pause before the bull’s computer brain starts into a more aggressive
series of jumps. "It’s pretty entertaining to watch," Harris said.
Sumo wrestling also should be good for some laughs, Hostetler said. The
oversized, inflatable suits worn by contestants aren’t easy to maneuver in and some
people who try it might have a hard time getting upright if they fall over, she said.
It’s also a workout, she said, and some participants may not last their allotted five
minutes in the ring.
Harriet Hall offers a quiet refuge for those needing a break from
fast-paced action. The hall was brightly decorated this week, brimming with exhibits
including Burl Sheldon’s 17-foot, hand-made, Swampscott dory, Scotty Hansen’s
"Iraqi Freedom Outpost" Lego creation and Julie Slanaker’s champagne salal
jelly.
Salal is a dark, lowbush berry that tastes like a mushy blueberry gone
bad, but boiling out its juice and adding lemon, sugar and dash of champagne makes an
exquisite jelly, Slanaker said. Besides, salal berries grow likes weeds around her
Ketchikan home.
"I started experimenting with it last year and my family really
liked it. I thought I’d enter it in the fair and see how everybody else likes
it." She also entered a pumpkin jam and Dutch apple pie jam.
Slanaker goes hunting in old cookbooks for different recipes, then will
add a custom touch for a unique taste. She won ribbons last year for her spicy huckleberry
and blueberry jams, using cinnamon and nutmeg, and has added jalapenos to some of her
creations. "My family is always giving me new ideas."
Slanaker, a 39-year-old radio ad saleswoman, has never been to the
fair, but said she hopes to make it some day. Last year she entered some quilts she made.
One exhibit by professional artist Cathy Klinkert is a shell-encrusted
"altered book" that sparkles with decorative touches. Klinkert said she started
making the books 40 years ago as a craft item called "memory books," but the
idea has been rediscovered by a new generation of artists. "They’ve become quite
the art form now."
Klinkert and her husband operate an oyster farm on a remote corner of
northwest Prince of Wales Island. Their jobs keep them put and allow her time for art,
which includes sand painting. "I’d love to come up for the fair. I don’t
get to see much of my competition, living remote like I do."
Harriet Hall also will host artists in action Saturday. Glass artist
John Svenson will give a flameworking demonstration. "I’ll be making little fish
or whatever I can make quickly that will be fun." Donna Catotti will demonstrate
silk-screening.
Crafts at the Kids’ Stage will include decorating giant puppets
Thursday and Friday and tie-dyeing T-shirts Saturday. Crafts and games run 1 to 4 p.m.
daily and on Saturday, children should bring a white T-shirt for dyeing.
The logging show will feature men’s and women’s events,
beginning 1 p.m. Saturday, including log-rolling over water, a traditional crowd-pleaser.
Organizer Ashleigh Sage said for the sake of the log rollers, she’s hoping for
sunshine. "We don’t want people to get hypothermia this year."
A commercial fisherman’s rodeo also will be held, for the second
year, 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Dalton City. Events will include net-mending, survival suit
donning, gear baiting, and marine trivia.
The Carnival of Casseroles grand prize this year is a hand-made ceramic
bowl thrown by Haines artist Renee Hoffman. Meat, seafood, vegetarian, dairy and dessert
dishes qualify. Entries should be at Harriet Hall between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Fair’s Grand Parade starts 11 p.m. at the firehall. The theme
of the parade is "Celebrating 40 Fairs." Floats should meet at the fire hall.
Registration for the The Loveable Dog Contest is 10 a.m. at the firehall. Dogs will be
judged by their appearance in the parade and by other activities after the parade at
Tlingit Park.
See insert in this newspaper for a complete schedule of events.
