WEST ALLIS, Wis. — From cows to Clydesdales, all the farm animals make a mess that needs to be cleaned up so the humans can walk (and breathe) easily around the Wisconsin State Fair. The crew who handles the poo is called the Scooper Troopers and you’ll see them around the Coliseum and the barns during the Fair. They wear brown t-shirts and the backs of the t-shirts have a variety of humorous pop culture designs ranging from Taylor Swift to the TV series, “Friends”.
Last year, I met a Scooper Trooper named Piper Faust. Curious about why someone would want to work picking up the stinky leftovers that livestock leave behind, I asked her about the job.
Piper is a pleasant, friendly person who surprised me with her answers, including the fun fact that she can speak French.
Her goal to go to college in France to study marine biology motivated her to take on this gritty yet great paying job of cleaning up after the animals.
Catch up on our 2023 Scooper Trooper conversation here:
Her work ethic and positive attitude impressed me then and I hoped she would be back at this year’s Fair so I could get her update.
Success! Earlier this week, I found Piper along with a group of several brown t-shirt clad Scooper Troopers gathered with their shovels at one of the Coliseum entrances.
I now bring you Scooper Trooper – The Sequel!
The update on Piper is that she is not going to France for school – yet. A visa issue will keep her in Milwaukee for school the first semester then she does hope to get to France the following semester, hopefully studying marine biology as originally planned.
By working all eleven days as a Scooper Trooper last year, she earned $2,000. She and several of her high school friends have been on the team for a few years now, which means opportunities for new Scooper Troopers as they move on in their college careers.
What are the top three things Piper suggests for success as a Scooper Trooper?
- The non-negotiable need to be present and ready to work when needed, whether it’s early in the morning or late at night, when the barns are being cleaned after the public has left. “You gotta be ready to be there when people need you or when animals need you, right? There’s no time for slacking,” Piper says.
- The ability to be an encouraging, dependable teammate to get through the grueling days.
- Get ready to get physical. According to Piper, “You have to be okay with physical labor…because you’re shoveling pounds and pounds and pounds of wet sawdust every day.” Even as an ice skater, Piper finds the physical aspect of the job challenging, often feeling sore after a day’s work. The tools of the trade include shovels, brooms, and pitchforks, each serving a specific purpose in the cleaning process.
The smells don’t really bother her, but it does take a while to recuperate from nearly two weeks of Scooper Trooper duty. “I think that, like, the week after State Fair, it’s almost a mental thing. I have to get out of the mind state of the Fair because sometimes I look around my house and I think I see piles of sawdust.”
What does one wear when working as a Scooper Trooper? See Piper’s Fit Check here:
Piper seems good with a trilogy of interviews so hopefully I’ll find her at the 2025 Wisconsin State Fair for an update on her French adventures when she’s not on manure removal duty.
