Dave Hinton: Welcome back, Cotter

Jul. 8—Don't mind Todd Cotter if he seems a little distracted these days: So much to do, so little time.

A livestock farmer for which there are no days off, Cotter is general manager of Stout's Building Service in Urbana.

And what does he do in his spare time? He's president of the board of the Fisher Fair, which opens Sunday with a horse show

"We're in full fair mode," Cotter said. "Right now it's a lot of behind-the-scenes" work. "Everything is in the last-minute planning, getting some of the fine-tuning details down, working out some logistical things like how the admission gates will run, logistics for each event, making sure our volunteers are lined up to do whatever needs to be done."

On Friday, volunteers started physically setting things up.

Cotter, who has served as fair president for six years, said it takes a village and more to run what he calls "the single biggest event that the town has going on."

He estimated up to 50 people from the community alone help with set up. That group includes everyone from some existing fair board members to people inside and outside of Fisher.

And when the fair opens, "On any given night we might have 20-25 people coming in" as volunteers, Cotter said. "Some will be more than one shift.

"We do have organizations that help — like the teachers in Fisher have a group that will help with the gates," Cotter said. "We have some local businesses that will come in and monitor the admission gates for the evening."

What the fair means to Fisher can't be measured. It not only helps economically, it's a tradition that helps the Champaign County community retain its identity. A tradition that dates to 1942.

The fair is a family affair for the Cotter clan. Todd's wife, Kim, serves as livestock secretary and is involved in the kids event. Their oldest son Nick, who is ag teacher at Rantoul Township High School, serves as sheep show superintendent and entertainment director. Nick's wife, Carson, helps with the fair's social media.

Todd and Kim's youngest son, Kaleb, helps with the hog show "as well as whatever else dad tells him they need."

Their daughter, Lacey, is the current reigning fair queen. She will give up her crown Monday when a new queen is crowned and has promoted the fair throughout the year at various functions. She has also served as a member of the junior fair board and has been helping the younger children in that group with ideas and letting them know what her experiences were like. She also helps in the office during fair week.

The Cotters' children also help on the farm, and Kaleb and Lacey work for Todd at Stout's as epoxy technicians.

The fair will run longer this year — seven days.

"We used to be a five-day fair," Todd said. "Last year we started the second Professional Pullers League tractor pull. That's a big draw for us."

Cotter said the fair's biggest draw is either the Friday night concert (this year will feature country music band Lonestar) or Saturday's demolition derby.

"Our demolition derby is always a tremendous crowd," he said. "I hear if from other fairs. They talk about Fisher has one of the best demo derbies and one of the most well attended."

You can bet Cotter will be on hand. After the fair ends, Cotter might get a break, but it will likely be a short one. Livestock need to be tended every day, and the construction industry is always busy. But if he does, he likes to go camping and "spend time with family and my grandchildren. I have two granddaughters."

No doubt one day the grandchildren will be helping at the fair as well.

Four to compete for Fisher Fair crown

Four young women will compete for the title of Fisher Community Fair queen Monday night.

They are Lexi Murray, 17, of Fisher, daughter of Chris Murray; Ella Luna-Drone, 18, of Mahomet, daughter of Michelle Luna and Luke Drone; Paige Ferguson, 17, of Fisher, daughter of Dion Ferguson and Kristi Page; and Ella Edwards, 17, of Mahomet, daughter of Ben and Rachel Edwards.

Sheet metal worker become journeymen

Members of Local 218 Sheet Metal Workers were among 50 East Central Illinois residents who recently graduated from their union apprentice training programs, earning the title of journeymen.

This is the third of three weekly items listing some of those graduates.

The sheet metal workers honored were Daniel Large, John Mathine, Carson Woodworth, Collin Childress, Isaiah Goulding, David Bamert, Jeremy Zaayer, Lucas Beard and Terry Seets.

Three from area earn Farm Credit grants

Three area residents — Dayten Eisenmann of Mahomet, Lexi Putnam of Loda and Addi Klein of Seymour — were among the 30 members of the class of 2023 Farm Credit agriculture scholars recently selected

Each scholar receives $2,500 from FCI to pursue a degree within the field of agriculture. Recipients were selected from 145 applications throughout Central and Southern Illinois by a panel of judges in the agriculture industry.

This fall Eisenmann, son of Derric and Jodi Eisenmann of Mahomet, will attend Oklahoma State University to study farm and ranch management with a minor in animal science with hopes to return to his family farm and become a self-employed farmer and rancher.

Putnam this fall will attend the Parkland Pathways program to study agriculture business with hopes to pursue a career as a precision agriculture specialist.

She is a daughter of Craig and Pam Putnam of Loda.

Klein will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall to study political science and agriculture economics with hopes to pursue a career as an agriculture attorney.

She is a daughter of Paul and Jackie Klein of Seymour.

Rantoul fire receives donation

Dawn Babb, far right, Country Financial agent in Rantoul, recently donated $1,500 to the Rantoul Fire Department. The money was used to purchase new thermal-imaging cameras for the department — a tool that helps in many ways, including search and rescue.

Thomas retires from Champaign Police Department

Jeff Thomas has retired after 26 years with the Champaign Police Department.

Having started with the department in 1997, Thomas has served in a number of roles, including as a member of the bike patrol unit, crime scene unit, crisis intervention team and field training cadre.

He said his greatest passion was serving as a member of Champaign County's multi-jurisdictional explosive ordnance disposal team, having served there since 2008 with more than 150 deployments in the field.

Thomas' work with the department has not gone unnoticed. He has received eight commendations for exemplary work, three life-saving awards and a 2007 Medal of Valor for saving three children from a burning residence.

Pair wins talent competition

Gibson City's got talent. A pair of the community's young residents — Katie Steidinger and Lucas Clinton — were named winners of the talent competition at the Ford County Fair. They are shown with Fair Queen Maci Kingren.

Blue Diamonds sparkle at tournament

Champaign's Blue Diamonds, coached by Doug Reynolds, captured the Peanut League All-Star Tournament hosted by Urbana Little League June 17-18 at Yankee Ridge Elementary School.

Six teams from the four C-U leagues competed in pool play then a single-elimination bracket.

The Blue Diamonds defeated the First String All Stars in the championship game.

Comprising the Blue Diamonds: Finn Bossert, Bryce Eaton, Benson Elliott, Aiden Harney, Jack Patterson, Zach Woloszyn, Seth Vermillion, Everett Drew, Will Hiser, Yarel Gutierrez, Bo Christ and Ben Reynolds

Joining Reynolds as coaches were Jeff Eaton and Travis Vermillion.

DAR installs officers

The Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society hosted the June Daughters of the American Revolution luncheon and an installation of the 2023-2024 newly elected officers for the Governor Bradford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Installed were Regent Peggy Kotcher, First-Vice Regent Viki Powell, Chaplain Susan Riggle, Treasurer Phyllis Busey and Historian Cynthia Acton.

Arcola Rotary project completed

Recently completing a drinking fountain matching grant project at the north baseball diamond at Moore Park in Arcola were members of the Arcola Rotary.

The fountain is a top-of-the-line model, offering two levels of drinking fountains, a water bottle filler and a dog watering station.

Showing up for a dedication of the fountain were Rotarians Winnie Stortzum, Kris Graves, Suzy Saunders, Bill Wagoner, Jane Seaman, Julie Mills, Kate Watson, John Watson, Larry Howell, Jesus Garza and Dixie Curry.