MOUTH-WATERING, HEART-STOPPING, BUM-BRUISING FAIR FAVES

by LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

of vehicle parts—tires, bumpers, entire front-end panels, whathaveyou—are frequent and favorite crowd-pleasers whether racers motor across the finish line or a front-end loader carries them.

As much as Tough Truck makes our hearts go pitter-pat, we can’t miss mentioning a more recent pulse-raiser to the fairground scene, the Super Kicker Rodeo, a bull-, barebackand ranch-bronco-riding show of the caliber you’d expect to see in Cheyenne, Wyoming, not Grawn, Michigan. Hailing from Paris, Michigan, in fact, this fringe-filled production wows with both novice and experienced cowgirls and boys hanging on and flying off the backs of bucking and rearing steeds and beasts, plus equally wild roping and barrel-racing competitions. More drama per hour than “Yellowstone,” for far less than the cost of a streaming subscription. Tickets to Tough Truck (7 p.m. Aug. 10) and Super Kicker (7 p.m. Aug. 12) are $5 per child age 3–12, $12 per adult, not included with fair admission. northwesternmichiganfair.net