'Bratwurstgate' is the scandal we didn't know we needed
In Bucyrus, Ohio, the most pressing issue of the moment is not the upcoming election, Ukraine or gas prices.
It's the dethroning of Abigail "Abbie" Brocwell, the 2021 Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival queen.
According to a report by the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum, Brocwell was removed as queen by the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival board of directors earlier this month amid claims that she violated rules on travel and representation.
She's accused of attending a private queens' luncheon hosted by another festival in violation of Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival policy; for being photographed holding a cellphone; and for not wearing her "drindl," a traditional German-Alpine dress, which is a crucial element for all public appearances by the queen.
Brocwell's mother confirmed that they did attend the luncheon, but as private guests of the Baltimore (Ohio) Festival pageant queen, who is a personal friend of her daughter.
More on bratwursts:Jim Hillibish: The bratwurst has deep history, German roots
The board contends the Brocwells shouldn't have attended at all because it had already sent a girl representative from Bucyrus.
Now, lawyers have climbed into the ring.
What's next? Finding out that Big Butter Jesus was, in fact, made of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter?"
More bratwurst controversy:Bratwurst Festival board president: Queen was dismissed after violating a direct order
More bratwurst controversy:Brocwell's lawyer: 'No truth' in board's reasons for ousting Bratwurst queen
Why 'Bratwurstgate' is a big deal in Bucyrus
To outsiders, it may seem like much ado about nothing. To the parties involved, it's serious business. The Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival pays homage to the community's identity, history, culture and tradition.
In places where time has stood still, where cynicism has not yet made many inroads, such a thing still matters. Generations of young girls in small towns all over America have grown up aspiring to wear a festival crown.
As long as a festival queen lives, she'll always be a celebrity of sorts in her hometown ― unless her crown is stripped.
Who would want to live with that?
Some of you are old enough to remember when Vanessa Williams, the country's first Black Miss America, had her crown rescinded after nude modeling photos were discovered. But Williams, whose pageant talent was singing, got the last laugh by winning 11 Grammys, three Emmys, eight NAACP Image Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and watching as the Miss America pageant sank into irrelevance; but such endings don't occur for deposed queens in small-town America.
Why 'Bratwurstgate' is a welcome distraction for outsiders
Like all looky-here stories that happen elsewhere, the festival queen snafu in Bucyrus has become a distraction for us outsiders, a respite from the constant conflict over abortion, classified documents, inflation, the never-rending nightmare that is the 2020 election, and the general all-purpose sense of dread over the future of democracy.
It's certainly generated more online traffic on Gannett's Ohio network than the latest coverage on vaccines and rental housing costs.
As proof that we like drama, no matter how much we claim otherwise, if you were to measure the reader traffic of Brocwell being dethroned to the coverage of her winning, there'd be no contest.
Brocwell was replaced by her first runner-up, who already has crowned the 2022 festival queen. But attorneys for Brocwell and the festival board still are squabbling over whether she was illegally ousted.
Based on the reporting, they appear to be talking past one another.
If a solution is not found, it may well end up in court, which might only serve to divide longtime neighbors and friends.
It might not seem that big of a deal to us on the outside who will graze, then move on to the next story, but to those young women and their families, it's everything.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival controversy is the Ohio scandal we needed
