Lessons to be learned at Nebraska State Fair

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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star

At the Nebraska State Fair, it's not all billy goats and fried Twinkies on sticks. It's more profound than that. 

Here are five things the fair teaches us about life.

1. If you're going to be 10 feet tall, be sure you have a lot of good jokes in your arsenal.

View Slideshow

Charlie Stron of Las Vegas bends down to knock on Earl Kramer's head in front of Richard Snyder (left) and Mary Sommermeyer outside of Ag Hall at the Nebraska State Fair on Wednesday afternoon. (Heidi Hoffman)

 "It's a wonderful job," Charlie Stron (a.k.a. Charlie the Clown) said of being a man on stilts. "People look up to you in this job. As long as you don't look down on them."

Stron has been striding across the fairgrounds all week, doing stunt kicks, high-fiving kids and cracking one-liners. He's been walking on stilts since he was a kid living in South Africa. And when he moved to Las Vegas, Stron made it a career, trying to prove that the only thing better than a really tall guy is a really funny tall guy. 

"Sorry about all the one-liners, you know," he said. "Well, I've got to go and stretch my legs now."

2. Pie-eating prowess might be hereditary.

Father and son Robert and Dustin Hayes, of Prague, both went home champs at the fair's pie-eating contest, adult and child divisions.

"You could say it runs in the family," Robert said as he cleaned chocolate cream out of his long goatee. They never planned to enter the contest. They just need some time to kill before heading to a concert.

You got to love the State Fair, Robert said. "Ain't nothing better than petting kangaroos and eating pie."

3. Stunt dogs are awesome, but stunt dogs that wear sequins are even better .

The high-flying, hyper-coordinated canines of the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show not only performed amazing feats at their performances on Thursday, they did so wearing sparkly red vests.

It's important, said dog show producer Chris Perondi, that the dogs enjoy the training and performances. Though, it's questionable whether the stars had any say in their attire.

4. Great art lasts forever, well, unless it's made of dairy.

Jim Victor has been a sculptor for many, many years, but it was in the '80s that he started making art out of food — butter, chocolate, vegetables and cheese.

All this week in Ag Hall, Victor is working on his latest piece, "Kids and Calves." Each day, he sits in a giant 60-degree cooler, chiseling away at a 687-pound block of cheddar.

The problem with working in a butter or cheese medium, though, is that it doesn't last too long. It either melts or goes bad.

"It's pretty ephemeral," he said. "Here today, gone tomorrow."

But still art. 

5. Nate Whisenhunt is the toughest guy in Nebraska.

Well, at least when it comes to push-ups.

A huge crowd gathered ‘round the cross section of the two main streets on Wednesday night, as the U.S. Army hosted a push-up contest, challenging tough guys and gals to see how many push-ups they could do in a minute. Whisenhunt proved the mightiest with 96, the highest number of the night.

He might have a little advantage over everyone else, though. See, he's actually in the U.S. Army Reserves, stationed in Lincoln for the past two years.

Specialist Whisenhunt's commander will be proud.

Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.