Posted by The Northwestern, WI on August 06, 2008 at 12:45:36:
89-year-old Omro woman hopes to win more baked good ribbons
BY AMANDA M. WIMMER • of The Northwestern • August 5, 2008
Dorothy Coats has a lot of blue ribbons from the Winnebago County Fair.
Each year, for at least the last 20, Coats, 89, has been entering baked goods into the open class contest at the fair. Whether it’s bread, cupcakes, cookies or pie, she said she just enjoys making it.
Further, for many years Coats worked at the fair, so with her baked goods comes a sense of nostalgia.
This year she’ll enter about 10 items in hopes of winning a few more blue ribbons, she said.
“I have a big family and we always had people forking here on the farm and I had to do the baking and cooking,” said Coats, who lives in Omro. “I don’t have a big family anymore but I’ll keep cooking and baking as long as I can get around.”
Among Coats’ favorite items to bake are bread and rolls, she said. At this year’s fair she’ll make a homemade white and wheat bread, and some rolls for the judges to sample.
Coats, who begins baking for the fair days before it actually starts in order to get everything done, said one of her favorite parts of the fair is looking around to see what others are entering. According to fair rules, all entered items must be homemade. Prepared mixes are not allowed.
“I like to go to the fair and meet other people and compare,” she said. “But when you take stuff down there you aren’t allowed to bring it home. The judges taste it and that’s it.”
Judging for the open class begins today. Fair officials say more than 100 people are expected to enter 1,400 items at this year’s fair.
Amanda M. Wimmer: (920) 426-6632 or awimmer@thenorthwestern.com.
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