Freeborn County Fair memories
The Freeborn County Fair is just around the corner and I find myself wondering: how did it sneak up on us this fast? It seems like only yesterday we were waiting for the ice to go off of the lakes and now summer is on its downhill run.
Looking back to my days as a kid, anticipating the arrival of the fair was almost Christmas-like in my mind. I would work all summer mowing lawns and saving my paper route money for that big event. I mowed lawns for my uncle Orville Winjum to earn spending money for the summer. He mowed the rural pumping station lawns for Interstate Power. Each week we would load his two mowers on a trailer and take off for different towns around the area. We mowed the pumping stations in rural Albert Lea, Emmons, Wells, south of Twin Lakes, and New Richland. I included New Richland last because it was my favorite. The pumping station was right next to the drive-in and he always had it figured so that when we finished mowing, it would be lunch time and he would treat me to a burger or pronto pup basket along with a big frosty mug of root beer, which is still my favorite beverage today. Our family never ate out much so this was a real treat to a kid from rural Albert Lea.
Saving money for the fair was my goal each summer and by the time it would arrive, that money would be burning a hole in my pocket.
My friend Pat Smith and I would head to the fair days ahead of time to “scout” and see what new things had been done to make it an even better fair than the previous one. We could always tell when a building had been painted or if something new had been added. I guess we were pretty much “fair junkies” because we couldn’t wait for that magical time. We would usually ride our bikes to the fairgrounds and hang out all day inspecting every inch of the place, making sure it met our stamp of approval. There was this one particular time when Pat rode his pony/horse to my house and I jumped on the back and we were off on our initial inspection tour of the fairgrounds. His horse was a Welsh pony that he had named Scout after Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick’s horse. It was a pinto like Tonto’s horse but, unfortunately for me, he wasn’t overly fond of carrying an extra rider. We had ridden to the fairgrounds and spent a big chunk of the day and were on our way home when Scout decided he was tired of two riders and decided to rid himself of the extra passenger. After running through the ditch and bucking like a rodeo horse, he finally shed himself of the extra rider (me) and then stopped, looking at me as if he were giving me the horse laugh. This just reassured my suspicions that horses just didn’t really like me all that much. I was a little sore but overall none the worse for wear and although Pat encouraged me to “mount up,” I decided I was within walking distance of home and would keep my feet on the ground. That was one occasion when I felt safer not heeding the old “ism” about getting back on if you get bucked off.
The first day of the fair we would be there bright and early hoping to get some sort of odd jobs around the carnival. One year they had a new ride called the Mad Mouse and the guy setting it up asked us to fill his water jug and run some errands for him which resulted in a couple of free rides. There was this one time, however, when I helped a guy with his game stand and in return he gave me some free games which ultimately led to him bilking me out of all my hard earned fair money. That was a sad time for me because I couldn’t go to the fair without my own money. I can still remember laying upstairs in my bed with the window open and hearing the fair going on loud and clear without me! Can you feel the self-pity oozing out?
That was a life lesson indeed and if I learned anything it was that those games were not for me and maybe that’s why to this day I’ve never been much of a gambler. If I did help one of those carneys again I made sure it was someone who worked on a ride and paid you in tickets or cash. Lately I only attended the fair one day each year and that is to watch the grandkids show their 4-H projects. I still enjoy walking through the barns looking at the livestock, and every once in a while I’ll think of Patrick and the fun we had hanging out at the fair on those hot August days.
The down side of the fair was that as soon as it was over school was just around the corner. School meant my mother would take me to town for school supplies and new clothes. It was time for new shoes, socks and underwear along with two shirts and two pair of dress pants; blue jeans were not an option. To me the newness of the clothes wore off almost as fast as the excitement of the new school year. I attended Hammer School for grades 1-6 and I have to say those were my most enjoyable school years. The end of summer might have meant the beginning of school, but it was also the beginning of football, my favorite sport at the time. I have many good memories of Hammer School with its two classrooms and some very good teachers.
Until next time, enjoy the outdoors, maybe take in a fair or even do a little fishing.
Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.