There is a lot of nostalgia in our family when the State Fair rolls around.
It goes back to when my mother and her sister Phyllis (“Snookie”) would take their county fair champion entries to the Minnesota State Fair.
Back in those days a trip to the State Fair occurred when the Freeborn County Fair ended. If you had been a winner, you could expect to stay at the fair for its entire 10-day run. It was something special, and usually involved showing animals and doing demonstrations.
In later years my mother, her sister Kaye, and her boys went to the fair with the aid of various campers and motorhomes. They would go up before it started and venture to parks and malls.
The boys were little, and my dad had extended the handle of the little red wagon to make it easier for the one pulling. This allowed the boys to travel in both style and comfort. They could see the fair early or late in the days when things were less crowded. When they were hungry or tired, they could go back to "home base" (the camper or motorhome), and take a rest.
Years went by, the kids grew up and lives became busier, and it became “an event less traveled.”
Time, health concerns, age, and traffic took away some of the attraction, but there were always thoughts of, "What are we missing at the fair?"
A dear friend, Clarice Pence, mentioned that she would like to go up to the fair a few years ago, and asked if we wanted to go along with her on a special bus trip from Owatonna. We were a little skeptical, but despite the crowds of senior citizens, it was great. No parking worries or traffic problems.
But now there is a new generation to consider, and my youngest daughter Keralyn, her husband Bill, and their almost-2-year-old Amelia attended one of the first days of the Minnesota State Fair, which is now the largest State Fair in the United States. They came home with pictures and stories that brought back all the nostalgia and joys of the State Fair and we relived it all, remembering what a joy it was when our families made that yearly trek.
There are rumors of change at Heritage Square. All of our kids liked that little corner of the fairgrounds with all the people and their crafts we enjoyed and knew for years – wheat weaving, scrimshaw, antiques, and people in their authentic clothes. The Square had many interesting foods to enjoy as well.
What are fairs famous for? For many it is all the different foods. My mother remembers when the first "food on a stick" – "Pronto Pups" or "Corn Dogs" – were introduced. They were an instant success, and Mom says back then they sold for 20 cents. To a 4-H kid on a limited budget and a busy schedule, it was a taste sensation. Many of the 4-Hers paired it with "all the milk you could drink" for a dime.
Foods at the fair often came from enterprising church people like St. Matthews Dining Hall and Bethel Lutheran Church, who served dinner banquets for cheap change by today’s standards. Jack Robinson’s was a favored spot, and my mother remembers what she called the "Railroad Cafeteria" where food traveled a miniature railroad to the people who took what they wanted from the track. It later had to be closed down because too often salads and cream pies etc. became toxic from too much heat exposure, or maybe too many rounds around the track.
The "Turkeyeria" sold a complete turkey meal for 95 cents back in 1960. And of course there were always hot dogs and large containers of greasy French fries. The progression of mobile foods on a stick began, including fresh pineapple spears on a stick, corn on the cob on a stick, deep fried cheese or fried ice cream on a stick. Forty-seven new foods were introduced to join the over 450 - 500 foods already offered at the fair this year. I noticed at the Steele County Fair they will deep fry almost anything — apple pie, Oreo™ cookies, Twinkies and more.
Pronto pops or corn dogs took on new sizes or added flavors like cheese and bacon. How would you like bacon wrapped shrimp on a stick, or breakfast sausage on a stick? Pickles or donuts or steak on a stick? Other delicacies you might enjoy that are new this year: cajun pork rinds, chocolate chili ice cream, cocoa cheese bites, chop dogs, Comet Corn, candied bacon cannoli, Craft beer battered onion rings, deep fried bread pudding, deep fried olives, English toffee fudge puppies, fried pickles 'n' chocolate, funnel cake sundaes, Idaho nachos, lobster macaroni and cheese, porkette pig wings, peanut butter and jelly malts and sundaes, Persian kabob koobideh, mini donut batter crunch ice cream, minnepumpkin pie, north woods BBQ tacos, and Mancini's cicchetti cones or classic char-grilled toast, just to name a few.
Fair food, a flavorful gastric delight, (and maybe health disaster) is a big part of the fair.
There are always many new and interesting things to see and do, always growing in actuality and memory. Thank goodness we can still go to the fair, even if it is only in our dreams.
Some of our Star Eagle readers have commented they like to read about events such as family and school reunions, birthdays and anniversaries, and birth and wedding announcements. In order to read about these important things we need our faithful readers to pass along the information to us.
If you have birthdays and anniversaries you would like include, or news to share please contact me via e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; by postal mail, P. O. Box 192, Geneva, MN 56035 or telephone, 507-256-4405.
This week’s birthdays and anniversaries:
• Thursday, September 5: Beckett Dane Rasmussen, Sydney Marie Schmidt, Jennifer Broskoff Dutton, Bruce Langlie, Beth Ann Suelter, Darren Hanson, Stacy Evenson, Grace Lorraine Kofstad, Rande Nelson, Dennis and Mary Jensen, Chuck and Lymra Hoogland, Brian and Angie Dobberstein.
• Friday, September 6: LeAnn Hjoberg, Cindy Sloan Scheevel, Jackson Kilian, Tina Thostenson, Luke Trumble.
• Saturday, September 7: Tanner Ryan Green, Caleb Wacek, Bert Van Hal, Janice Nelson, Charles Phagan, Allen Wacek, Jenny and Jed Popiel, Summer and Wayne Schultz, Erik and Gina Cooper, Al and Becky Larson, Brant and Rhiannon Boerner.
• Sunday, September 8: Pastor Joel Xavier, Natalie Aaseth, Cindy Loberg Smolinski, Anna Lois Erickson, Brittani Hagen, Karen Briggs, Kelly Hagen, Amy Johnson Svoboda, Jennifer Johnson Popiel, Jimmie Olson Jr., Jamie Thompson, Brenda Dokken, Bob and Karen Vaith, Brian and Jody Wayne, Jessica and Jay Eidem.
• Monday, September 9: Eva Lauren Wayne, Charlie Pence, Paul Aronson, Bruce Cerney, Corey Haddy, Steve Hanson, Roger Herbst, Jim and Mary Brocker, Randy and Deb Parks, Spencer and Suzanne Wayne.
• Tuesday, September, 10: Arnold Lund, his 95th; Taya RaeAnn Lembke, Emily Crabtree, Caden Jensen, Curtis Blouin, Craig Blouin, Pauline Fetterly, Steve Granowski, Kathy Knudson, Sally Utpadel Waknitz, Connie Krusemark, Charlie and Diane Marlin.
• Wednesday, September 11: Geoffrey Stieglbauer, Andy Arends, Dawn Misgen Meier, Craig Torgerson, Matthew Mueller, Kathy Nelson, Galen Christensen, Mark Calverly, Paul and Jo Otto, Steve and Mary Bailey, Leanna and Jared Peterson, Tim and Angie Butler, Brian and Jodi Wayne, Rick and Linda Weckwerth.
• Thursday, September 12: Stacy Kubiatowicz, Joane Vanden Heuvel, Chloe Sue Walterman, David Wacek, Robert Kasper, Courtney Thostenson, Nikolas Zimprich, Eric Hunnicutt, Jennifer Wallerich, David Jepson, Tuyen Vu, Kris Klocek.
• Friday, September 13: Tali Wayne, Jaxon Richards, Russell Goette, Jason Ingvaldson, James Plunkett, Clifford Tufte, Sherre Utpadel, Lisa Zamora, Andrew Zinke, Korey Peterson, Amber Stohr, Lisa Ritz, Ruby Troxel, Ann and Rodney Hamilton, Rhonda and Derike Shelton.
Wherever this year takes you, may you find happiness along the way.
