BURLINGTON - Country singer Sara Evans has three platinum albums, a pile of awards and an entourage with specific tastes.

"Why would you want a paper coffee cup?" asked Tammy Brever, scanning the list of items Racine County Fair officials agreed to supply before Evans's performance Saturday. "It's going to, like, melt in your hand."

Not finding those on the shelves of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Burlington, Brever settled for Styrofoam cups. As members of the fair's entertainment committee, she and Joan Weber spent an afternoon last week hunting down groceries for Evans, her band members and

roadies.

The list specified the Mountain Dew should be caffeine-free and only in cans. The chips had to be kettle-cooked. And, in keeping with the fair's 4-H flavor, the milk was plentiful.

"Who's drinking all this milk?" Weber asked.

"Well, maybe the water's nasty on the bus," Brever said.

Since inheriting this task a few years ago, they've learned a few things. When requests leave room for interpretation, they pick stuff they like. Brever still has the big jug of carrot juice requested last year by health-conscious Jamie O'Neal. It was never opened.

"You have to do this with the theory that, if they leave it, we have to eat it," Weber said.

They tried their best to stick to this year's list, although they wondered if some of the unfamiliar brands are exclusive to the South. Evans lives in

Alabama.

The volunteers immediately crossed off requests for Merlot and cases of local dark beer. For liability reasons, they said, the fair won't supply alcohol to the buses.

"If they want beer, they can go to the beer tent," Weber said.

At Brever's Town of Burlington home, the two sorted the items and joked about how they've loosened up since the first year. This isn't the only tour stop where entertainers can restock on snacks, they realize now. A fair vendor provides their meals.

"We were so careful," Brever said. "They didn't even look in the bags. They just stuffed them in the belly of the bus."

Delivering groceries gets the fair shoppers a brief tour of the musicians' traveling homes. Brever was happy Evans agreed to play within the fair's budget, and organizers are preparing to welcome a bigger-than-usual entourage.

That means lots of towels. Beige towels. That works for Brever.

"They didn't say they had to be pretty."