For the Schweineheld in all of us

[Krafft, John M.]

First female champion hog caller crowned at the Illinois State Fair
It takes style to call hogs and hubbies
http://www.sj-r.com/news/x1246329071/It-takes-style-to-call-hogs-and-hubbies

Hogs called via cell phone at state fair
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/08/10/news/doc489fb1ce768eb378815659.txt

Meet the Illinois State Fair hog-calling champion
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1103226,hog081208.article

Iowa Public Television: Hog Calling [Windows Media Player]
http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/554/sf07_20070818_6_10

Calling the Hogs: Arkansas Alumni Association
http://arkalum.org/traditions/callingthehogs.php

The Wonderful Pig of Knowledge!
http://pigofknowledge.blogspot.com/

Over the past week, much of the world has been focused on the pomp and
circumstance surrounding the Summer Olympics in Beijing. However, in
downstate Illinois, amidst rich farm country, another type of champion was
crowned ? a champion hog-caller.  There is something different about this
year's champion, she's Doris Probst the first female champion hog-caller.
Probst learned her craft while growing up in Effingham, Illinois on a hog
farm. The venue was the 2008 Illinois State Fair, and Probst put on a
performance that was part pure entertainment and part truly astonishing
m?lange of vocalizations that mimicked both a piglet and a full-grown pig.
There are many state fair sponsored hog calling contests still to go in the
2008 season, and such stalwarts as Bob Wood (the 1999 World Championship Hog
Caller) and Littlefield, Texas's own Roxanne Ward have yet to enter the fray
this summer. Despite the fact that Probst was the first woman to win the
title at the Illinois State Fair, she remained humble, commenting, "If I had
known how good these people were going to be, I wouldn't have come up here."
[KMG]

The first link will lead users to a piece from the Monday edition of the
Springfield (IL) State Journal Register on the recent triumphs of Doris
Probst. The second link leads to an intriguing piece from the Bloomington
Pentagraph about the hog-calling efforts made by the third place winner in
the Illinois State Fair, who saw fit to call his pigs via cell phone. Moving
on, the third link leads to a short video clip of Probst in action, courtesy
of the Chicago Sun-Times. The fourth link whisks users away to video of
young children performing their own hog calls at the Iowa State Fair. The
fifth link is quite a bit of fun, as visitors will get the chance to learn
(and perhaps attempt) the "Calling of the Hogs", University of Arkansas
style. Finally, the last link leads to Brett Mizelle's weblog "The Wonderful
Pig of Knowledge!" As might be expected, the weblog covers all things
porcine, including rescuing pigs in a post-flood environment and the British
Pig Association. [KMG]