STORY - Story Inn bartender (and ballotkeeper) Danielle "Dani" Hamm took up the title this April Fool's Day as Story Inn's Village Idiot of 2010.

Hamm won election by consensus for unwittingly setting her hair on fire while driving to work.

A press release from her employer details the incident:

"This particular incident occurred in February as Dani was attempting to 'make up' for lost time, coaxing her coiffure witha liberal dose of hair spray while attempting to control her 2000 Acura on Brown County's legendary back roads. 'I was late, and I was on my way to bartend at a wedding,' she explains. 'As I look back on it, it was probably not a good idea for me to light up a cigarette at that precise moment.'

"Dani noticed that that volatile mix had ignited when she looked into the rear-view mirror. 'I saw flames and smoke coming from the back of my head,' she explained. Fortunately, she was able to control the vehicle while dousing the flames, sustaining no injury.

"Dani did, however, endure a succession of 'bad hair days' thereafter. 'I didn't hear about the blaze until Dani had gone to another hairdresser to repair the damage,' says Terri Imel, Dani's mother (who also works at the Story Inn and cuts hair part-time). 'That is just as well, since I probably wouldn't have known how to deal with a challenge like this.'"

Dani went ahead and worked her scheduled shift after the blaze, and then nominated herself as Village Idiot.

"This was undeniably an impressive achievement, and Dani has earned this accolate," said Rick Hoftstetter, the Story Inn owner and himself a former Village Idiot.

Read about the other Village Idiot nominees' feats in the April 7 issue of the Brown County Democrat.