Governor Ryan, Mayor Daley Welcome Classy Cows To The State Fair

SPRINGFIELD -- Governor George H. Ryan and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley today toured various exhibits at the Illinois State Fair, including the city's popular "Parade of Cows" and other offerings that bring rural and urban Illinois together.

In an effort to promote tourism throughout the state, Ryan weeks ago invited Daley to display several cows from the "Parade" exhibit at the fair. Mayor Daley and the Governor are working together to develop joint efforts to increase tourism in Illinois - a $21 billion business in this state.

"The State Fair is one of the state's tourism highlights," Ryan said. "We want visitors from Chicago, we want visitors from across the country and across the globe. The Fair is a great cross-promotional opportunity for us."

Ten of the 300 cows presently on exhibit in Chicago were sent to Springfield for the Fair and appear in a favorite cow contest.

"We are delighted to share a sampling of Chicago's cows with our friends and neighbors at the State Fair," Daley said. "They represent the talent and creativity of Chicago's artists, and we are grateful for the warm response they've received here.

"Like all of our public art exhibits, "Cows on Parade" fulfills the goal of making art accessible to as many people as possible, free of charge."

The ten cows on display are: Cowfallo by Ruth Duckworth; Eggplant Horn with Significant Udder by Tom Czarnopys; Lines by Helmut Jahn; She's Got Legs...And She Knows How to Use Them by Terry Karpowicz and Elaine Uellendahl; Literary Lucy: The Library Lactater by John Santoro; Belted Galloway by Sam Fink; Delft Cow by Sallie DeReus; Uncle Sam by Stan Sczepanski; Bertha Palmer's Closet by Maryanne Warton and I Did Not Start the Chicago Fire by Mr. Imagination.

During the first weekend of the fair, children had an opportunity to vote on their favorite "cow" at the tent of First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan. According to fair tradition, the "top cow" will be awarded a blue ribbon..

Ryan and Daley also joined fairgoers in sampling Chicago-style cuisine at the "Taste Illinois" tent, visited the Chicago Tourism booth in the Exhibition Building, sampled food and entertainment from around the world at Ethnic Village and inspected a Chicago Transit Authority bus powered by oxydiesel, a fuel that contains ethanol produced in Illinois..

"We always want to promote the state's number one tourism asset, the world-class City of Chicago," said Ryan. "We've had cows at the Fair since fair's began, but we've never had cows like these. The Cows on Parade exhibit has been a tremendous, exciting and creative idea that has been fun for tourists, Chicagoans and for State Fair-goers."

The 300 fiberglass cows will be on display in Chicago through the end of October. When the exhibit closes, many of the cows will be sold for charity at a cattle auction in November.