Corn dogs, cows arriving for Du Quoin State Fair

DU QUOIN, Ill. -- Even before stalls went up for the customary corn dogs, steaks-on-a-stick and lemon shake-ups, farmer Wayne Hinderliter's nine cows lined up Thursday along a cattle barn at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, ready to be judged.

The state's second and smaller state fair starts today in this south-central Illinois town and runs through Sept. 1.

Although his nine Shorthorns don't preen for the judges until Sunday, Hinderliter, who has shown cattle in nearly every Du Quoin Fair since 1958, wanted to be early.

"It'll be a mess around here," as other exhibitors arrive, Hinderliter said as he raked hay from his cattle trailer after the drive from his Albion farm.

His nine brown and white cows lined up along a fence like cars parked at an angle, their tails swatting flies.

Elsewhere on the leafy fairgrounds, preparations continued for what organizers hope will be a record-setting attendance year.

Dozens of colorful trailers touting everything from steak-on-a-stick to bottomless pina coladas were just arriving at the Du Quoin Fairgrounds on Thursday, their operators setting up tables and chairs for their expected customers.

A few changes this year, including night harness racing and the addition of a $2.3 million, partially enclosed equestrian ring, will likely help attendance, assistant fair manager Norm Hill said.

"Now people in Southern Illinois can come on down, have a corn dog and watch night races," he said.

The World Trotting Derby is scheduled for Aug. 30 at noon, and auto racing takes place at the track throughout the run of the fair. Rocker band REO Speedwagon and country music's Charlie Daniels Band headline the grandstand.

The fair has been on a winning streak in recent years. Last year's attendance topped 500,000 for the first time.

Organizers attributed the booming attendance to sunny weather, among other things.

The forecast this year called for mainly sunny days, with rain a possibility only a few days of the fair's run.