Princess Mia, owned by Pam Leifeste of Fredericksberg (center, holding roses) was crowed champion at the 14th annual Buda Lions Club Country Fair and Wiener Dog Races. The festival brought thousands of visitors from across the nation to Buda City Park last weekend. (Photo by Jen Biundo)
by JENNIFER BIUNDO
A cool wind blew through Buda City Park Sunday afternoon, sprinkling a few drops of rain on the crowd lined up in the stands. Inside the racetrack, the gates opened and six contestants bolted toward the finish line, their legs furiously pounding up clouds of dust as they raced for the finish. The crowd roared as one speedy dachshund was declared the winner.
Thousands descended on Buda for the 14th annual Lions Club Country Fair and Wiener Dog Races, coming from near and far to watch the dachshunds race for the roses.
For some, the light-hearted small-town festival is a yearly ritual. Austin music teacher Jennifer Wilks, who decked out her wiener dog Leisel in a flowery ballerina costume for the occasion, says she’s attended the races for the last dozen years. So what keeps her coming back?
“I’m seriously obsessed with dachshunds,” Wilks admitted.
She was in good company. The crowd included thousands of hard-core wiener dog enthusiasts, including many who decided the festival warranted an airplane ticket. Darrell and Becky Fewell flew in from Indiana with their dachshund Wendy, dressed like the locals in a pink cowboy hat.
Was it worth the airfare from their home state of Indiana?
“Oh yeah,” Becky Fewell said. “It’s a hoot.”
It was a race full of wild cards. Last year’s champion, Alex, was knocked out in a tight semifinal heat. His owner, Keith Rodriguez of Hewitt, gave Alex a rueful cuddle before walking away from the field. After two years in the winners’ circle, including a fourth place victory in 2009, Rodriguez thought Alex might have a shot at hanging on to the title of top wiener.
“We were going to try,” Rodriguez said. “There was a lot of tough competition this year.”
Ultimately, it was a long and strong brown dachshund, Princess Mia of Fredericksburg, who was crowned queen of the races. Despite the fact that she ran the races for the last two years without making it to the finals, Princess Mia crossed the finish line almost a full body length ahead of the pack.
“The last couple of weeks we worked with her a little bit,” her coach, Pam Leifeste, said of the training regimen that produced the winner wiener.
The Lions Club runs the races as a charity fundraiser, and for the first time this year, the races came with a small $3 entry fee. That didn’t seem to discourage onlookers or participants. Organizers reported near record crowds, and a high turnout of about 425 dogs. More than 80 teams participated in the barbeque cook-offs next to the races.
