Anthony Lindsey is seen performing in front of attendees at the Entertainment Building on Saturday. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo)

PELKIE — The Baraga County Fair took place in Pelkie over the weekend to numerous attendees looking to celebrate their farming, artistic and outdoor cultures. The event began on Friday with the opening of the crafts, markets and food vendors to be followed up with the crowning of the Baraga County Queen.

This year’s nominees were Naomi Frahm, Michael Halpin and Rayln Mattila. Frahm is an athlete at Jeffers High School who sings and plays piano at her church, Halpin is an avid outdoors enthusiast who aspires for a future involving animals, and Mattila is a 2023 graduate from Jeffers High School and an honors student who has cleaned highways and beaches for the National Honors Society.

Of the three candidates, Mattila was awarded the crown.

Robin Chosa, the 2024 Baraga County Fair Manager and owner of Rez Robin, loved seeing the many peoples of Baraga County participating in the activities together. He has served food at the fair for the past eight years, but this is the first time he has led the event. He was impressed with the mixing of rustic and Native representations via the crafts, foods and cultures. He was especially excited on Saturday morning.

“When I showed up this morning to get ready to go and I saw the hustle and bustle vendors setting up and they were like ‘we’re already making money’ and people going in and out and the crowd is getting bigger for the Mud Bog and man — it’s y’know, it fills my heart,” Chosa said. “It made the stress and anxiety about trying to get this thing going, handling so many vendors, being a first time fair manager — it made it that much better.”

Saturday was the busy day of the weekend, with a multitude of activities sometimes taking place at once. One of the most notable events was the Mud Bog, or what some called the Mud Drag, in which several off-road vehicles drove through a mud pit with the goal of getting out of it as quickly as possible. Some vehicles did not even get near the other side, while some flung mud high into the atmosphere as they ripped the wet earth apart and revved themselves across in almost no time.

While this event was going on, attendees could enjoy the craft and food venues as well as trying their luck at a trout pond put together by the Keweenaw Indian Bay Natural Resources or enjoying music and song from Anthony Lindsey in one of the halls. There were also animals in a barn for attendees to pet with ribbons displayed to the various animal contests that were held.

Later on, a magic show was put on and a raffle for baskets of prizes were drawn. The day was completed with the Pony Pull, drawing the attention of many horse enthusiasts from the U.P.

The last day of the fair, Sunday, was mostly about cars. There was a car show featuring a multitude of hot rods and classic vehicles as well as an off road derby. Between these was a pie-eating contest where some faces were unrecognizable with the amount of pie coating their facial features. After the derby, the fair concluded with the hopes of expanding next year regarding the events and exhibits along with the number of volunteers.

“There wasn’t this kind of crowd last year,” Chosa said. “It was a big up-mark from vendors last year. I highly encourage anybody, come get involved. If people get the chance to come check it out, volunteer, lend a hand, lend their expertise and it’ll make it that much better. It takes a community, and we’re here and we could use all the help we can get.”