Wisconsin State Fair honors veterans and military personnel on last day of festivities
WEST ALLIS, Wis. ( CBS 58) -- After ten fun days of the Wisconsin State Fair, Sunday, August 15, marks the final hoorah and official last day for people to enjoy the fair. The fair has some specials and highlights for fairgoers to enjoy like Military Appreciation Day.
The fair honored veterans and active military members with Military Appreciation Day, where all veterans and military personnel had free admission into the State Fair until 5 p.m.
"We always come on the last day because it’s the veteran's day and we are both veterans so we kinda like to kick around with the rest of all the warhorses," said Joy Loucks.
Loucks and her husband Karl have made it a tradition to come on the last day of the fair.
They were excited to stock up on cream puffs and other fair treats.
"We like walking around. There's a sky ride which we like to take. We just look at people and get some treats to eat and hopefully some maple fudge to take home," said Karl.
The Military Appreciation Day featured a veteran's resources area for folks to connect with local organizations like the Milwaukee Navy League.
"We've got a banner here for people to sign and we're going to reach out to local businesses to do care package as the ship gets ready to deploy this fall," said Mike Good, the president of the Milwaukee Navy League.
Fairgoers also got to see some underwater robotics from the Milwaukee Navy League at the veteran's resources area.
Other activities at the fair included some exciting horse competitions.
There were, reportedly, longer lines than usual as people stocked up on their favorite fair foods.
"The food is why I came. We will probably do some other stuff but the food is the main reason for sure. We tried the glazy boy first. It’s a donut sandwich with pork and cheese and more. It has a nice combination of flavors and textures," said Chloe Vande Voort, a fair attendee.
The glazy boy was a hit and won the Sporkies Food Competition this year.
Another hit was the alligator claws which sold out on the last day.
Fair organizers said it wasn't an easy year to host the fair but managed to pull it off in a safe way despite the pandemic and severe weather.
"This year was a great year to bring it back and all sanitizer staterooms everywhere really helped," said Yolanda Veasy, a fair attendee.
"Safety is always our top priority and we've learned a lot going through this fair and going through it in a challenging time as well as with the weather that we had. We learned a lot from those situations and how to communicate best and most efficiently with our fairgoers and really came out on top. We're really excited for our fair next year 2022," said Tess Kerksen, the public relations manager of the Wisconsin State Fair.
Some other entertainment highlights include performances from Hank Williams Jr. with Alex Miller who take the main stage at 6 p.m. and the Bank Five Nine Amphitheater with nightly entertainment presented by Leinenkugel’s.
The Boy Band Night kicks off at 6 p.m.
The Wisconsin State Fair closes its gates for the year at 10 p.m. tonight.