His other dream would be to deliver his hog call on the the field at St. His dream would be to win the world championship chili cook-off in Reno, Nev. He already has toured a few dozen countries rather than waiting for retirement. MUST-SEE: Watch the Winner of a Hog-Calling Competition Call Hogsīarton now has a wife and infant son. ![]() “It just made me want to get out there and see the world," he said. "Really, the base of it is," said his mom, Lynne, "he loves to hear people laugh."īut Bill's stroke and eventual death in November 2012 also was the catalyst for Barton to reassess his life. On one hand, Barton's hog calling is all about fun. I had no idea of how seeing his dad hobbled in a flash had spurred Barton to raise his own voice. He estimates that he has racked up a relatively modest $4,000 in prize money and probably spent twice as much to earn it. He competes in a couple dozen chili cook-offs each year, whether staged in a tiny church or on a sprawling fairgrounds. Meanwhile, Barton also has become a chili champ and always enters a broad array of fair food contests. He's due to appear this summer on "The Gong Show," a revival of the classic network TV entertainment revue. He was part of a "High on Hogs" video art installation by Danish artist Marika Seidler that was exhibited in Copenhagen. He filmed a clip on an Iowa farm with Taylor Hicks for the "American Idol" winner's "State Plate" program. Jimmy Fallon has joked about Barton's hog call.īarton taught TV host Steve Harvey how to squeal and snort. His snorts so unnerved host Meredith Vieira that she jokingly called for security to storm the TV set. He unleashed his hog call in 2011 on the "Today" show. In 2010 he swept the state fair hog calling contests in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois. He has won as many as 10 titles and routinely places among the top three at the State Fair (which he won again last year). She stood just outside the entrance to the historic barn and listened as Barton clinched second place.īarton has bellowed like a boar ever since. Lynne was so nervous for her son that she couldn't bear to watch. He nearly toppled off his chair with laughter yet also studied it with his engineering mind, refining his notion of what made a successful call.Ī decade after his father's stroke, in 2002, he finally entered the hog-calling competition himself. Year after year Barton watched the competition. "He imagined hogs situated somewhere," Lynne said, "and then you’d call and see if they’d come." Go west on Main to Indiana, turn north and go straight to reach the park.įor more information, call (405) 772-0310.At first he mistakenly thought that the contest's purpose was to coax actual pigs down the aisle. To get to Means Park, take Weatherford Exit 82 to Main Street. ![]() Weatherford is 70 miles west of Oklahoma City on Interstate 40. "We had telephone calls from Nickelodeon, the Home and Family cable channels and Cable News Network about this year's winner," said event chairman Jan King. This year's hog-calling champion may be called on to tour and show off the winning yell. įor those who can't wait for a frozen hog to thaw, there is "Pull-a-Pig Pork Barbecue." Hungry hog callers can either pay for and get a pork barbecue dinner or slip on a plastic glove and grab a handful of cooked pork right off a whole barbecued hog. Another attraction is guessing the weight of a future barbecue dinner. There also is an arts and crafts area planned, and children will be needed to compete in the "Pig Out" event - a contest to see who can down the most cookies and milk with their hands tied behind.Įveryone also is encouraged to participate in the greased pig catching contest. Participating children should have their hair in pigtails, but Reid said the basic hairdos have been supplemented with things like wire and flags. The actual calling competition is only part of events planned for the day.Ī Best Little Pigtails contest begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by children ages 7-12, youths 12-16 and then adults. ![]() The three junior divisions split another $500 in prize money.Ĭhildren under 6 kick off the contest at 1 p.m. It's free to enter, and first prize in the adult division is "a 6-foot-tall gaudy trophy covered with pigs" and a cash prize of about $500. The contest is open to anyone who wants to try. Rader said the key to a winning call is the loudness of the yell, the amount of time the caller can hold "Sooey," and how penetrating the call is.īasically, a call should be designed to get hogs' attention.
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