Is Dixon Home to a Hog-Calling Virtuoso?

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By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It proved to be a swine time at the Dixon May Fair when the 11th annual hogcalling contest drew veteran and first-time hogcallers alike, each trying to coax the hogs hamward bound or  into four-squeal drive.

Seventh-time champion Nick Stacey of Dixon, known as “Boss Hog,” won his eighth championship with a series of loud snorts and oinks with a decibel range close to that of a Concorde supersonic jet. He wore a shirt lettered with “Boss Hog” on the front, and on the back, the years he claimed the championship. .

Contestants or “swinemasters” had one minute to call the hogs, using only their voice.  Emcee Donnie Huffman of Vacaville, president of the Friends of the Dixon May Fair, encouraged them to “bring home the bacon” as each took the microphone.  One competitor came all the way from Boston, Mass.

Judges scored the contestants on creativity, originality, hog response and audience response. Jackson Dinsdale, 10, of Vacaville, donned a pig baseball cap, with the south end of a stuffed toy pig gracing the front. The hog refused to come to him. “That’s why,” said one spectator, pointing at his hat, as the crowd roared.

 Haley Scott, 9, of Dixon, who is enrolled in a  4-H goat project, wore a goat hat and nailed second in her age division. First-time caller Mary Jane O’Neill of Davis won third in the adult division by cleverly called the hog on her cell phone, much to the delight of the audience. “Hello, hog?” she asked plaintively. The hog on the other end of the phone did not respond, but the hog in the ring did. Much to the spectators’ delight, the hog trotted up to her, squealing loudly.

None of the hogs pulled any ham strings. “They’re top athletes,” Huffman said.

The winners:
Ages 5 and under:
1st, Valerie Vieira, 5, Dixon; and 2nd, Ryder Lee, 4, Vacaville. Valerie, a veteran competitor, retained her crown.

Ages 6-13:
1st, Parker Franceschi, 8, Winters; 2nd, Haley Scott, 9, Dixon; 3rd, Bailey Coffman, 12, Vacaville; and 4th, Xavier Copeland, 10, Suisun. Parker, a veteran competitor, retained his crown.

Ages 14-17:
1st, Madison Archambeault, 14, Vacaville; 2nd, Alex Reville, 16, Vacaville; 3rd, Devan Hostetter, 15, Vacaville; and Wyatt Garden,14, Vacaville.

Ages 18 and Over:
1st, Nick Stacey, Dixon; 2nd, Brianna Boyd, Dixon; 3rd, Mary Jane O’Neill, Davis; and 4th Eric Jeannot, Dixon. Stacey retained his crown. Boyd also won second in last year’s competition and Jeannot again claimed fourth place.

Judges were Mary Harris of Vacaville, member and past president of the Dixon May Fair Board of Directors;  Hendrick Crowell of Fairfield, former member and past president of the board;  Richard Byrum, vice president of Butler Amusements and former Michigan State FFA president; and JoAn Giannoni of Dixon, secretary of Friends of Dixon May Fair.

For the prizes, Bryum provided Butler Amusement carnival ride tickets; the Dixon May Fair donated destruction derby tickets and ribbons; the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, pig magnets; and JoAn Giannoni and Kathy Keatley Garvey, assorted pig-related prizes. Garvey, of Vacaville, and Marilyn Sexton of Fairfield coordinated the event.

Dixon 4-H'ers enrolled in either the countywide swine project or the Maine Paririe 4-H swine project provided their hogs: Cody Meitrott, 13 and Morgan Meitrott, 10; Bailey Coffman, 12, and A. J.  Granillo, 11. Also helping was Elizabeth Granillo of Dixon.