FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John Herath Aug. 13, 2000 PHONE: 217/524-9825 FAX: 217/524-9832 TDD: 217/524-6858 INTERNET: www.state.il.us/fair HUSBAND AND HOG CALLERS TAKE CENTER STAGE DURING VETERAN'S DAY AT THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR SPRINGFIELD, IL Joseph Congiusti and Sue Hansen hollered their way to first place today in the Hog and Husband Calling contests. Congiusti, of Chicago, won the crowd and judges with a demonstration of his unique hog calling skills. "You gotta yell for the pigs," he said. "You get the pigs to come and sometimes you get a big surprise." A woman in a pig mask, wooed by Congiusti's "sooee"s, sidled into the ring during the performance, followed by the big surprise, a girl dressed in leather. Conguisti ended his performance by dropping the masked woman in favor of carrying off the leather-clad beauty. Sue Hansen of Springfield, Il., won first place in the Husband Calling Contest. She disregarded the previous contestants' explanations to the audiences, and went straight to hollarin for her honey. Nearly out of breathe, she held one final, sustained cry as her husband approached. She collapsed in the sawdust with a look of confidence on her face. He leaned down, kissed her on the cheek, and then quickly threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the ring. Congiusti and Hansen each won $325 for their efforts. Governor George H. Ryan won the first Celebrity Swine Showmanship contest, defeating Illinois Agriculture Director Joe Hampton and Farm Progress Show manager Keith Ryan in a tiebreaker by guiding a hog through an obstacle course in the shortest time. Ryan, modest in victory, credited Director Hampton for giving him a few tips before the contest began. Other participants included Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara, Assistant Agriculture Director Joan Messina, Illinois State Fair Manager Bud Ford, WICS-TV anchorman Don Hickman, WFMB farm broadcaster Hartzel Bruno, and Julie King, administrator of the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Division of Food Safety and Animal Protection. Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole of Kansas was given a check by Governor Ryan for $947,000 today in a presentation on the director's lawn. The donation will help build a World War II Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., a national campaign that Mr. Dole is heading up. Mr. Dole sampled an Illinois pie before the presentation. DAILY RESULTS FOR SUNDAY, AUG. 13 VETERAN'S DAY Junior Steer Show Junior Grand Champion Steer Blair Branyan Assumption, Il Open Steer Show Grand Champion Steer Abby Bertsche Flanagan, IL Reserve Grand Champion Steer Scott Dryer Downs, IL Sheep Shearing Contest 1st Place Doug Rathke Hutchason,MN 2nd Place Paul Hofman Battle Creek, IA 3rd Place Jim Schaefer Callao, MO Simmental Cattle Show Grand Champion Bull Reserve Grand Champion Bull Grand Champion Heifer Reserve Grand Champion Heifer Limousin Grand Champion Bull Reserve Grand Champion Bull Grand Champion Heifer Reserve Grand Champion Heifer Fleishman's Yeast Baking Contest 1st Place : Jone Schumacher of Chapin, IL Delux Select Donuts 2nd Place: Denise and Natalie Turnbull of Monmouth, IL State Fair Lemonade Shake-Up Bread 3rd Place: Joyce Gabbert of Monmouth, IL Jewish Challa Bread HIGHLIGHTS FOR MONDAY, AUG. 14 SENIOR CITIZEN'S DAY (free admission for Seniors 60 and over) 8 a.m. Junior Dairy Goat Show Goat Barn 8 a.m. Polled Shorthorn Cattle Show Livestock Center 8 a.m. Duroc Swine Show Swine Barn 9 a.m. Southdown Sheep Show Sheep Barn 12 p.m. Review Stakes Grand Circuit Racing, Illinois Topline, ISF Colt Stakes- Aged Divisions Grandstand 1 p.m. Polled Cattle Show Livestock Center 1 p.m. Hampshire Sheep Show Sheep Barn 6 p.m. ISF Talent Contest Illinois Building 8 p.m. An Evening with Neville Brothers # # #