BY MIKE WARREN

EDITOR

MARSHFIELD – Normally there is not a lot of fanfare surrounding the 118th animal sold as part of the annual Market Animal Sale at the Central Wisconsin State Fair in Marshfield. This year there was.

The money raised for this particular animal – donated anonymously by a family already showing other animals – will go to the Dennis Bangart family to help offset medical, travel and other expenses incurred, as Dennis battles Leukemia, and is undergoing his next stage of treatments through Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Dennis works as a lender for AgCountry Farm Credit Services, whose staff clerks the Market Animal Sale each year, led by Bangart.  

But he is also a local dairy farmer who is involved in many ways and for many causes.

Bangart served as the co-chair of Farm Technology Days when the three-day show came to Wood County in 2018. He serves on the Agribusiness Committee for the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Dennis also serves the Junior Holstein Association and is involved with the Clark County Fair and the Marshfield Farm Show.

When the donated hog hit the auction block the evening of Aug. 23, the hoopla surrounding the fast-paced bidding was a welcomed distraction from the 80-plus-degree temperatures and high humidity inside the Jer Lang Show Palace.

When all was said and done, 28 area businesses and families had come together to raise $23,500 for the Bangart family. They were Nasonville Dairy, Marawood Construction, Gardner Trucking, Loyal Vet Service, AgCountry, Bob’s Dairy Supply, Draxler Trucking, Wiskerchen Trucking & Equipment, Jordan & Britteny Freund, Tylar & Brianna Freund and families, Schmeiser Accounting, Dorsland Farms, Simplicity Credit Union, Northwestern Mutual, Ace Farm & Diesel, Hay Creek, Forward Financial, Dieringer Trucking, McMillan Electric, Northside Elevator, Edward Jones Investments-Brian Kaiser, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Quality Electric, Nikolai Construction, Power Pac, Weiler Concrete, Hewitt’s Meats and Norm-E-Lane Farm.

Another bright spot for Dennis – who was watching a live web stream of the event from Rochester – came when his cousin, Dylan Bangart, was given the honor of showing the donated hog in the sales ring during the bidding.

Dennis and Sarah Bangart were married in October 2017 and now have three children, Lucy (5), Hendrick (3) and Loretta (8 months).