Life as fair's mascot not glamorous, but 'someone's got to do it'

One week a year, "Josh" - that's not his real name - slips inside a fuzzy, bright-pink pig costume and becomes Pork Chop, the live-action mascot of the Lake County Fair.

Pork Chop waves and dances and cavorts with fairgoers young and old, clowning around and bringing smiles to countless faces.

It's not a glamorous job. And with temperatures in the 80s and 90s this week, it's not a comfortable job, either.

"It's basically boiled pork after a while," Josh says of being in the suit.

But, as he explains, someone's got to do it.

"It's a great way to see the fair," he adds.

As is traditional for people in mascot suits, Josh, 24, doesn't want his real name publicized to protect the mystique of Pork Chop. He's not the only person who'll wear the costume at the fair, which began Tuesday in Grayslake; sometimes someone else wears the suit because of schedule conflicts or other issues.

This is Josh's third fair dressing as Pork Chop. He talks about his plush alter-ego in the third person, as if Pork Chop were a living, breathing, sentient creature and not a few pounds of cloth.

"Pork Chop becomes his own person," says Josh, who also works as an events coordinator with the fair association. "Even when he's packed away all year... we know that he's there."

Pork Chop made his public debut this year on the Funpalooza stage, during the fair's noontime grand opening ceremony. He looked a little odd standing next to the fair's pageant queens and fair officials, hand over his heart as the national anthem was sung.

But he was very patriotic, and the small audience certainly appreciated the effort.

Pork Chop doesn't just amuse fair guests. He's been known to razz some of the food vendors about menu items he finds disconcerting.

"Pork Chop likes to go to any of the booths that do sell pork chops and shake his finger at them and shame them," Josh says.

After the fair ends Sunday night, the Pork Chop costume will go back into storage and Josh will return to his normal life, which includes teaching preschool.

He insists he only dresses in furry costumes for the fair.

"It's something that comes out once a year," he said.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=396887">Images of the 2010 Lake County Fair <span class="date">[7/27/10]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>