Tagliani to ride tricycle around State Fair in beaver costume

Despite raising nearly $6,000 for charity, Alex Tagliani will have to don a beaver costume and ride around the Indiana State Fair on a tricycle.

The stunt is the payoff of a bet with 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon, who raised $1,130 more than Tagliani during their Power of 2 Challenge. The pair raised nearly $13,000 for their charities through the Power of 2, a fundraising initiative that uses celebrity power for social causes.

Dixon raised $7,036 for two groups that focus on cancer stricken young people, CanTeen and Teens Living with Cancer, during a two-week campaign that ended July 18. Tagliani raised slightly less, $5,906, for his chosen charity, Anaphyaxis Canada, an organization that helps people with life threatening allergies.

The end result means Tagliani will ride around the fair on a tricycle in a beaver costume, representative of his native Canada, while stopping to have some State Fair fun along the way.

He will begin his journey at 11 a.m. on Aug. 5 on Main Street in front of the Communications Building and proceed around the fairgrounds to perform the following tasks:

  • Pose for photo with the World's Largest Male Hog at the Swine Barn
  • Chug a delicious milkshake at the Dairy Bar
  • Try to ring the bell at the "Strong Man" game at the midway
  • Pose for photo with the World's Largest Popcorn Ball at the Agriculture/Horticulture Building
  • Feed the goats at Goat Mountain next to the DNR Building
  • Dance with The Fun Bunch line dancers near Gate 12
  • Milk a dairy cow in the Livestock Nursery in the Family Fun Park

Once he successfully completes the circuit, Tagliani and Dixon will duel it out in go-karts at the fair's Mini-Indy Speedway, a quarter-mile banked oval track in the fairgrounds' northeast corner.