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Kiss-A-Pig candidates stump for votes
Kiss-A-Pig is back for the 10th year at the Loudoun County Fair, which runs July 28 through Aug. 2.At 6:30 p.m., Aug. 2, in the rodeo arena at the fairgrounds on Dry Mill Road just west of Leesburg, this year's four stalwart Kiss-A-Pig contestants will learn who got the most votes.
From now until that moment, the 2008 Kiss-A-Pig contestants are looking for your vote – and your dollar bills. Or checks. Large checks. Look for their "ballot boxes" (aka piggy banks) all over the county.
Votes are counted in legal tender. The contestant who raises the most greenbacks will pucker up for Porky.
All the money raised – there are no losers -- goes to maintain the buildings at the fair grounds, to youth programs and to scholarships.
Vote early, vote often. See loudouncountyfair.com then click on Kiss-A-Pig Contest.
2008 Kiss-A-Pig candidates
Wayne Bramhall grew up in rural Virginia, near Lovettsville, and never left – went to Lovettsville Elementary and Blue Ridge Middle schools and graduated from Loudoun Valley High School in 1977. He's an Army veteran, and his son is on the way home after assignment as an Army medic in Iraq.
Wayne has been an advertising sales consultant with the Loudoun Times-Mirror for that last eight years.
Wayne was in the dog obedience 4-H club for several years, and watched most of his Virts and Bramhall relatives go to the fair with pigs, sheep, swine, lambs and steers.
"I'm as qualified, maybe more so, as any of them, to kiss the pig," he said.
Platform: "It's not about choosing me, it's choosing to help the Loudoun County Fairgrounds to be improved, and I'm a vehicle the voters can go though to do that. This is about creating a better place, the Loudoun County Fairgrounds, for youth to have a safe and adequate facility to learn good moral lessons."
Where to vote: the Loudoun Times-Mirror offices at 9 W. Market St. in Leesburg, and at various businesses in the county, including the Purcellville Southern States. Wayne will be using his marketing expertise to line up some corporate sponsors.
Heather Elias grew up on Maryland's eastern shore, and took a degree in journalism at the University of Maryland. She moved to Loudoun 10 years ago when her husband, Michael, tool the golf pro job at Westpark Golf Course in Leesburg. They live in Purcellville with three daughters and a son. Her farming experience, Heather said, was limited to a few chicken coops. She is a real estate professional with Weichert Realty in Leesburg.
Kissing pigs is not high on her wish list, Heather said, "but for the fair, I can stomach the idea."
Platform: "A vote for me is a vote for Loudoun County working moms, for Purcellville moms."
Where to vote: The Weichert office in the Potomac Station shopping center east of Leesburg, and at the new Cheers Sports in the Virginia Village Shopping Center in Leesburg. Or go to Heather's blog at locomusings.com.
Joe Myer lives with his wife and two young daughters on the family farm where he grew up in Clarke County. He works in Leesburg as a certified financial planner at the Merrill Lynch office on King Street. He was active in 4-H, with lambs, swine and steers. His entry won the Grand Champion market lamb one year, but his forays into beef "were OK, not so well in the pork classes."
"The fair is really ingrained in my background," Myer said. "I'm really delighted to have the opportunity to support it."
There's room on the farm for a pig, should he win.
Platform: "The voters should throw their support behind me in hopes of me being able to lay a big one on a pig. I have a unique desire to help youth programs and the county fair is a special time for the community to come together, to see the talents and hard work of their friends and neighbors who have put into making the fair what it is. Anything I can do to ingrain that as part of rural Virginia living, I'm happy to do."
Where to vote: Merrill Lynch, 3 S. King St.
Sola Pallotta fell in love with historic Leesburg eight years ago, and today she owns the Pink Shop and Very Virginia Shop at 109 S. King St. Sola grew up in Hagerstown, Md., on an alfalfa hay farm that has been in her family for more than 70 years. She attended the local fair every year with her family, and pitched in to help her relatives win prizes for their jellies, canned fruits and baked goods.
She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in marketing and is the mother of four.
"My store," she said, "is all about supporting local farms. You can't find more local farmers than at the Loudoun County fair."
Platform: "I love the fair and how it represents local family farms, so I would love to raise lots of money to support their youth programs and get to smooch a pig, too. Also, I have experience – when I was 9, I chased a greased pig with hundreds of other kids at my local county fair, and I caught her. When I was offered the choice of taking a big cash prize or keeping the pig, I chose the pig and named her Henrietta."
Where to vote: Very Virginia/The Pink Shop, 109 S. King St., at numerous pink piggy banks around the county and during First Friday events in Leesburg – you'll be sure to find a pig ready for ballot stuffing in Very Virginia's backyard for the July 11 and Aug. 1 concerts.
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