By Nancy Noreen

A petting zoo was one of the attractions at the cow plop. Photo my J. Reed

It didn’t take long for Emmie and Trenton McNeses’ little brown calf to “plop” on one of the thousand squares on the carefully marked grid behind White Creek Lumber and Hardware, Saturday, August 7.  By 9:14 a.m she had done her job, but ticket holders had to wait until well after 2 p.m. to find out if they were the winner of the $1,000 prize.

Dan Clark won $1,000 in the Rotary cow plop.

To help with the wait visitors could observe Earl Kindle as he carved works of art using a chain saw. Kids were entertained by John and Cindy Karafa’s petting zoo that included goats, kittens, rabbits and a duck.  Everyone had a chance to enjoy a hot dog from the Boy Scout’s food stand or ice cream from Kleve Casper’s KC‘s Cones and Coneys. Solon Township resident Reese Rickards, from radio station B-93, drew a name for a free cow plop ticket every half hour. You had to be there to win the extra chance at the big prize.

Promptly at 2 p.m., following the rules set by the State of Michigan, Rickards started drawing the “Cow Plop” tickets as Rotarians placed them on a grid that matched the one drawn on the pasture for the cow. After drawing 613 tickets, Rickards drew the name for the winning 614th square.  Dan Clark, of Cedar Springs, was the lucky winner of the $1,000.

“Rotary just raised $3,600 that will be used for their good works projects,” said Rotarian Julie Wheeler, one of the organizers of the event. “That’s the great thing about Rotary—every dollar supports a needed program.” Wheeler said the money would go for student scholarships and other community needs.