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����vlog EIGHT NEWS AT SIX. A WOMAN KNOWN FOR HER SPIRITED AND POWERFUL VOICE IS BEING REMEMBERED FOR SO MUCH MORE. YEAH. BONNIE SWALWELL, EILERT’S INCREDIBLE HUSBAND CALLING PERFORMANCE AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR EARNED HER WORLDWIDE ATTENTION. BONNIE DIED LAST MONTH. ����vlog BEAU BOWMAN TELLS US ABOUT THE LIVES SHE TOUCHED. FOR DECADES, BONNIE SWALWELL, EILERT’S VOICE ECHOED THROUGHOUT PIONEER HALL. BUT DURING THE IOWA STATE FAIR, SHE WORE MANY DIFFERENT HATS. AND I MEAN THAT BOTH FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY. WHAT THE BIG WINNER AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR. HUSBAND COLIN CONTEST. IT WAS JUST ANOTHER BLUE RIBBON TO ADD TO BONNIE’S COLLECTION. I JUST OPENED UP MY MOUTH AND STARTED SCREAMING. IT WAS A TRADITION FOR THE FAMILY AND A WAY FOR BONNIE TO PLAYFULLY HONOR HER LATE HUSBAND, ROY. A PERFORMANCE THAT WENT VIRAL IN 2022, INTRODUCING HER CHARM TO FANS ACROSS THE GLOBE. SHE’S LIKE, OH LOOK, YOUR COUSIN’S IN GERMANY CAN SEE IT, OR YOUR COUSIN’S HERE AND THERE, YOU KNOW, ALL OVER THE WORLD COULD SEE IT. AND SHE JUST JUST LOVED IT. HER GRANDDAUGHTER, KERRY BRAGGER WOULD TELL YOU BONNIE WAS ANYTHING BUT A ONE TRICK PONY. THE CHICKEN THROWING, THE EGG ROLLING. THE HOG, CALLING THE CHICKEN. CALLING THE HUSBAND. CALLING. AND THE STATE FAIR SUNDAY REGULARS. THEY REMEMBER HER DEDICATION TO FIRST CHURCH. IT’S WHERE BONNIE AND ROY RENEWED THEIR VOWS ON THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY. AND FOR YEARS, BONNIE WOULD GREET EVERYONE WHO CAME IN TWICE DAILY FOR THE OLD FASHIONED HYMN SING. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, FOR MANY FAIR GOERS, PART OF THEIR IOWA STATE FAIR EXPERIENCE WAS NOT A CORN DOG, WAS NOT LOOKING AT LIVESTOCK. IT WAS PROBABLY A ONCE A YEAR MEETING WITH BONNIE AT FIRST CHURCH OR PIONEER HALL. THEY WOULD STOP HER AND BE LIKE, OH, I SAW YOU ON TV AND, YOU KNOW, JUST LOVED ON HER. ROY. IT WAS IT WAS LIKE BEING WITH YOUR OWN LITTLE CELEBRITY. THE FAIR WILL DEFINITELY BE A LOT SLOWER FOR KERRY AND THE REST OF BONNIE’S FAMILY. NO LONGER HAVING TO KEEP UP WITH THEIR GRANDMOTHER’S SCOOTER. I LOVE YOU, BUT THEY TAKE COMFORT IN KNOWING THAT WHEN BONNIE CALLS NOW, ROY IS GOING TO ANSWER. ROY. THE IOWA STATE FAIR PLANS TO HONOR BONNIE WITH A PLAQUE ON A PEW HERE AT THE FIRST CHURCH IN DES MOINES, BEA