Nodaway's big boar

Hundreds of riders stopped at the Shipley farm a mile north of Nodaway to see Harry, a 5-year-old boar who weighs more than 900 hundred pounds. He seemed content despite the spandex papparazzi and lolled away the morning in a pen set up in the gravel driveway.

“He looks like he needs some moisturizer,” said Chicago rider Marikka Pretz-Anderson, who reached down to pet his mud-caked bristles.

Harry’s owner, Bill Shipley, responded with a beauty secret: “We use Suave Aloe Vera Shampoo when we’re getting them ready for the fair. It makes their skin soft and their hair shine.”

Harry, however, is not bound for the State Fair next month, where the blue-ribbon boars usually weigh in around 1,100 pounds.

“We only feed him about 8 pounds a day to keep him from getting too big,” Shipley said.

Many bikers snapped a few photos and pedaled away – a half-mile up the hill to Mr. Porkchop’s smoky grill.

— Michael Morain, filing from downtown Corning

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