Our Great Get-Together

Fair Food Favorites

David Hellmuth, Hellmuth & Johnson: I love the fresh corn on the cob that they dip in butter, and I like it well salted.

Steve Schleicher, Maslon: Tom Thumb Mini-Donuts.

Darbie Tamsett, Hellmuth & Johnson: The timeless classics: a corn dog in one hand and a bucket of Sweet Martha’s cookies in the other.

Emily Johnson, Aafedt, Forde, Gray, Monson, & Hager: Cheese-on-a-stick, a flight of local beer and deep-fried olives.

Christopher R. Jones, Hellmuth & Johnson: The Gizmo sandwich. Awesome—tasty, unique, simple. Tried to make it at home but never the same. Never leave without getting one.

Tips for Newcomers

Jenny Gassman-Pines, Greene Espel: Go early. Don’t count calories.

Carol Moss, Hellmuth & Johnson: Wear comfortable shoes, and throw calorie-caution to the wind.

Tamsett: Avoid the temptation to visit on the opening or closing day. Those days can be overwhelmingly crowded, which might dilute your experience. Aim for the weekday nights if possible; you can enjoy all the attractions without elbowing your way through a sea of people.

Hellmuth: I recommend taking the buses which go directly from most suburbs to drop you off right at the fair entrance. No driving, no traffic, no hassles parking. When you are done, you just go to the bus stop marked with your suburb name.

Jones: Pack a bag with hand wipes, Kleenex and a water bottle. Even without kids, things can get messy!

Schleicher: Go early, hit it hard until the parade, go home, take a nap, come back just before dark and stay until they make you leave.

Top Activities, Rides and Attractions

Moss: The DNR building is my favorite by far. I love watching the fish in the pond and the predatory bird demonstrations. We also love the seed art every year. The creativity with the seed art during election years cannot be topped!

Schleicher: Watching all of the people.

Gassman-Pines: The huge swings—my daughter and I went three times in one visit last year.

Johnson: I always enjoy walking through the Creative Activities and Fine Arts buildings and picking my favorite paintings, quilts and baked goods. I love to catch the stunt-dog show, especially to see the dock-diving pups. … You never know what local celebrities or Minnesota legends you might run into. One year I snapped a selfie with Byron Buxton and another year I got to meet Bud Grant.

Hellmuth: When the kids were little, we all loved the super slide. Now that my kids are adults, we really enjoy eating all of the different foods and stopping for beers at O’Gara’s.

Tamsett: The shooting game holds a special place in my heart. There’s something about being conned out of money from a carny that draws me in every time.

Memorable Moments

Jones: The first time my son tried Sweet Martha’s cookies. He had to be maybe 4-5 years old then—he’s 19 now. Pure joy! My daughter met Smokey Bear about that same age. She’s now 16!

Schleicher: My 6th grade 4-H group spent three days at the state fair to perform a one-act skit. I grew up on a dairy farm near a small town in west central Minnesota. I had never been to the state fair before, but was able to live on the fairgrounds in the 4-H housing. I soaked in every bit of it, waking up well before the gates opened and staying up as late as my chaperones allowed. I watched every animal show I could, stared at the equipment on machinery hill and spent hours watching product demonstrations.

Hellmuth: My daughter, Inga, competed in the horse reining competition. She did not win, but she did well, and her smile and pride of performing on a big stage really stood out for me.

Tamsett: My now-husband won a massive—and I mean massive—teddy bear at one of the games. There we were, roaming the fairgrounds on perhaps one of the hottest and busiest days of the season, pushing around this enormous teddy bear in a child’s stroller. It certainly drew some funny comments.

Moss: My family has a tradition of going through the DNR building with the taxidermied animals. My son puts his finger by the stuffed snapping turtle’s mouth and pretends it’s biting him. We have pictures through the years of him doing that exact pose.

Gassman-Pines: Bringing my college roommate, who grew up in L.A. and lived in Manhattan at the time. I don’t think she had experienced anything like it. I recently asked her what stood out to her. To my delight, she mentioned the butter busts first. She also had fond memories of the sweet corn and she described one food regret: ‘Afterward, people asked me if I got the cheese curds and seemed disappointed when I said no. So next time, cheese curds.’

How the Fair Could Be Even Better

Tamsett: Introducing season passes could be a game-changer.

Jones: I know it’s a huge event for a limited time, but parking, especially later in the day, is a real bear.

Moss: Definitely more water stations for filling water bottles.

Ye Old Mill: Yea or Nay?

Jones: Nay. Never been on it, but love to walk by and look at it. Someday I’ll have to ride it!

Tamsett: A solid nay from this corner. Venturing into a dimly lit, confined space might scream ‘timeless romance’ for some, but to me, it just echoes the opening scene of a murder mystery.

Schleicher: Nay.

Moss: I’d have to say ‘Nay.’ Growing up, our parents didn’t spend money on all of us kids going on rides. So I never got into it.

Hellmuth: Yea.

Parting Words

Moss: You can’t miss touring the Creative Arts building. Minnesotans are so creative and skilled! You also can’t miss the CHS Miracle of Birth Center or the free concerts! Or the giant yellow slide! Or the dairy barn! I could go on forever, which is why we go a minimum of two times each year.

Jones: I do ‘itineraries’ every year in a Word doc that outlines the new food and drink to try and other places, foods, things to see and sample, and then I chart it out on a map. My wife loves it—not!

Tamsett: Just a shout out to all the fantastic people who make the state fair such an incredible experience year after year. From the organizers to the vendors and the attendees, it’s the spirit of community and fun that truly makes it the highlight of my summer.