State Fair brings out the best “Best Baggers”

A special report from Hy-Vee’s Larry Ballard, live at the Iowa State Fair:

4th place winner Kelly Anderson

Kelly Anderson of Des Moines No. 2 took home fourth place and $100 today at the Iowa Grocery Industry Association’s Best Bagger contest at the Iowa State Fair.

Anderson was the best of six Hy-Vee competitors who battled stifling heat, nerves, and a talented contingent from Fareway in a multi-round contest on the Budweiser Stage that tested speed, weight distribution and overall bag appearance.

Jeremy Mescher, a quick-handed courtesy clerk from the Spirit Lake Fareway took top honors, which included $750 and a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the national bagger finals later this year.

Anderson, who said before the championship round that she would donate a portion of her winnings to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, survived three preliminary battles to make it to the finals. Each competitor faced a table laden with 20 items, everything from eggs and bread to celery, eight cans of soup and a four-pack of light bulbs.

“It was incredibly hard, and incredibly stressful,” said Anderson, who turned in the second-fastest time in the gold-medal round but was edged out in the weight distribution and overall neatness categories.

Behind Mescher, Fareway continued a tradition of dominance in the annual competition with both the runner-up and third-place finishers.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” said Hy-Vee’s J.D. Campbell of the Altoona store. He was knocked out in the first round along with co-worker Aaron Lammers, Jerry Sheeley of Marion and David Hopp of Des Moines No. 2.

Jordan Kessler of Iowa City No. 3 had hoped to pick up where his father, frozen food manager Jeff Kessler, left off a decade ago. The elder Kessler was Hy-Vee’s last Best Bagger state fair champ.

“I helped him practice a little this week, but we had the wrong items on our list,” said Jeff Kessler, who finished second in today’s celebrity all-star bagger contest, won by 2009 state fair champ David Kistenmacher of, you guessed it, Fareway.

Congrats to our friends from Fareway on an outstanding performance today. We’ll get you next year!