He let the buns and the hot dogs soak in a cup of water before consuming the food.

“You make bun soup and chow down,” Lundgren said at the Webster County Fairgrounds. “You soak them and it becomes soup.”

Unfortunately, Lundgren’s efforts were in vain as he did not win the contest.

“I should have won,” he said. “I had one bun left.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Theodore Morlan, 3, of Fort Dodge, is all smiles riding the mechanical bull at the Webster County Fair on Saturday.

Ty Haywood, 9, of Albia, won the contest for his age group. He ate two-and-a-half hot dogs.

“It was tough,” said Haywood. “The bun didn’t taste very good when I put it in water.”

Carlie Wood, 16, of Fort Dodge, won her age group. She downed five dogs.

“Eat the hot dog first and dip the bun,” she said. “I just took my time.”

Wood did start to feel a little queasy.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Ty Haywood, 9, of Albia, stands up to take a bite out of a hot dog during the hot dog eating contest at the Webster County Fair on Saturday.

“I almost threw up a few times, but it’s OK,” she said.

Once all the hot dogs were consumed, there was more fun to be had around the fair.

Christine Jones, of Winterset, was learning to drive a 1928 Farmall Regular tractor.

Her teacher — Ben Rogers, of Barnum. Rogers has been driving tractors around at the fair since 1998.

He’s a member of the Des Moines River Valley Antique Tractors and Engine Club.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Carlie Wood, of Fort Dodge, reacts after winning a hot dog eating contest Saturday at the Webster County Fair.

“She’s learning to drive that one,” Rogers said, pointing to the Farmall. “She might drive it home for me.”

Rogers enjoys the history of old engines.

“What I like is restoring stuff,” he said. “Get something to run that hasn’t in years. Show people how they operate.”

Meanwhile, Kenyatta Elamin was supporting Angela Jones, who was selling gel candles for her business, The Lighted Wick. She operates the Des Moines-based business with her identical twin sister, Andrea Roundtree.

“This is our first time here,” Elamin said. “It’s been awesome. Coming off of COVID, people want to mingle, eat some corn dogs and some funnel cake.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Cole Lundgren, 14, of Lehigh, dunked this bun in water before downing it during the hot dog eating contest at the Webster County Fair.

The 4-H kids were busy shucking corn for the sweet corn feed later in the day.

Andrew Creger, 18, of Fort Dodge was one of them. He’s a C-C Sidekicks club member.

The fair is a great time of year for Creger.

“I enjoy spending time with my friends and making memories I won’t forget,” he said.

Creger was the 2021 Fair King runner-up.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Teighan Osborne, 17, of Dayton, left, and Carly Davis, 17, of Lehigh, react while competing in the hot dog eating contest at the Webster County Fair on Saturday.

For his efforts, he got to sit above the dunk tank earlier in the day.

Mark Szafran showed exotic animals.

Logan Simon, 6, of Fort Dodge, volunteered for a surprise.

He held his hands out and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he wasn’t a fan of the hissing cockroaches.

As a side note, Szafran said Dawn dish soap kills cockroaches.

Justin Goodno, of Fort Dodge, said he was impressed with the Webster County Fair this year.

“It’s better than it has been for a long time,” Goodno said. “Very cool.”

Helicopter rides and critter closeups were two offerings Goodno particularly enjoyed.

“Overall participation has been great,” he said. “It’s well maintained — easy parking. The fireworks on Friday night were great, too. It was a good show.”