Issue: 57 | Jan. 25, 2023 |
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“A blanket of snow preserves the memories and magic created each summer at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.”
- Minnesota State Fair CEO Jerry Hammer, who also took this photo
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6 Days Left to Get This Deal!
Tuesday, Jan. 31, is the last day to buy your 2023 State Fair admission tickets for $14 each. Beginning Feb. 1, pre-fair discount admission tickets will be $15, still a great deal for a full day’s worth of entertainment, exhibitions and end-of-summer excitement.
If you’re on the hunt for a wintertime gift, a Valentine’s Day surprise, or just
want to get a head start on State Fair savings, now is the time to buy. For more information, check out Admission Tickets.
Fair-Time Prices
Pre-fair discount tickets are available through Aug. 23, and are good for all ages for any one day of the fair. At fair time, regular gate admission for adults 13-64 will be $18; kids 5-12 and seniors 65+ will be admitted for $16; children 4 and under are always admitted free. Several fair-time promotional days will offer discounts on tickets purchased at the gate. For details, visit Deals & Discounts.
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Our popular Kickoff to Summer at the Fair event will return for its third year over Memorial Day Weekend! This slice-of-the-fair event features favorite fair food and brews at 30+ vendors, music and entertainment on three stages free with admission, shopping at 20+ specialty Minnesota merchants, board and yard games to play, Giant Slide rides, and so much more!
Big news for 2023! The Milk Run 5K, previously held during the State Fair, will now take place during Kickoff weekend on Saturday, May 27. The Milk Run is presented by By the Yard.
To make this event experience extra special, attendance for each day will be limited.
- Thursday, May 25: 4-9 p.m.
- Friday, May 26: 4-9 p.m.
- Saturday, May 27: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, May 28: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Complete event details and ticket information will be announced in early April and posted on our Kickoff to Summer website page. New this year: You’ll be able to purchase tickets immediately when they go on sale for the date you’d like to attend without going through a lottery process!
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$9.4 million in Fairgrounds Upgrades Planned for 2023 |
When the pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 State Fair, limited attendance at the 2021 fair, virtually no operating revenue, and a nearly $18 million budget shortfall, the State Fair suspended significant maintenance and improvement projects for nearly three years. But that’s about to change - we’re pleased to announce that extensive maintenance and capital work throughout the fairgrounds will resume this year! The upgrades were approved by the State Fair’s board of managers during the 164th Annual Meeting of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society held Jan. 13-15.
“The success of the 2022 State Fair, and the amazing team of elite professionals who produce the Great Minnesota Get-Together, point us to a bright future,” State Fair CEO Jerry Hammer said. “Last year’s fair lays the foundation for us to present another world-class event, plus we’re now back on track with taking care of our beautiful fairgrounds.”
Among the dozens of projects on the to-do list are:
- Remodeling of the 1640 Como building to house the ticket office
- Construction of a storage building
- Improvements to the Gate 9 entrance off Como Avenue
- Street and sidewalk paving
- Electrical and other work in the livestock complex
- Safety and security upgrades
- Utility work in the Grandstand infield
- Greenhouse roof panel replacement
- Main Gate restroom remodeling
- Lighting and street light upgrades
- Partial roof replacement on the Agriculture Horticulture Building
- Scores of additional utilities projects, painting, landscaping and building improvements and equipment purchases, and more
The fair is financially self-supporting, and all projects will be funded through State Fair operating revenue and grants from the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.
(Photo by Andy Berndt)
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Two Extraordinary Fair Icons Are Honored |
Linda Christensen, retired butter sculptor, is the newest member of the Minnesota State Fair Hall of Fame, and Superintendent of Farm Crops at the Minnesota State Fair for the past 22 years, Ron Kelsey of Lamberton, Minn., was elected to honorary life membership in the Minnesota State Agricultural Society. Both were recognized at the 164th Annual Meeting of the Society earlier this month.
Linda Christensen was the butter sculptor at the fair for 50 years before retiring in 2021. In a program organized by Midwest Dairy, dairy princesses from throughout the state compete to be crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Then Linda sculpted the likenesses of the princess and her nine finalists in butter live during the State Fair.
She earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1972 and a master’s degree in theology from St. Catherine University in 2000. With two such degrees, she has scrambled for a living. Often juggling more than one effort at a time, she has been an art teacher; calligrapher; designed and marketed her own line of greeting cards; and gone to the north woods to establish a gift shop and sculpture studio. Through it all, Linda has said her proudest accomplishment has been carving 41,500 pounds of butter into the likenesses of more than 550 young women involved in dairy farming. She jokes that through conversations in a rotating cooler over 50 years, she has achieved at least a graduate degree in theoretical dairy farming.
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Ron Kelsey received his 50 Year Award for fair participation in 2006 and continues to serve the fair as farm crops superintendent. At age 6, he contracted polio but made sure to teach himself to walk again just in time to attend his first Minnesota State Fair at age 7 in 1947. That same year, the current Agriculture Horticulture Building made its debut on the fairgrounds. He has not missed a fair since and has dedicated his life to agriculture after growing up on a farm in Lewisville, Minn., and spending each fair showing his family’s award-winning crops, especially corn. He even has a tattoo of an ear of corn on his forearm gifted to him from his family for his 75th birthday.
As superintendent, Ron oversees all farm crops, scarecrows, the vintage seed sack collection that he owns and displays each year, as well as the one-of-a-kind and very popular crop art competition. He went to the University of Minnesota and taught agriculture for 35 years at Red Rock Central High School in Lamberton. He has served on the Lamberton City Council, acted as the mayor, served on the Red Rock Central High School Board of Education, and been a Lion’s Club member for more than 50 years. He has a long history of leadership and volunteerism with Lamberton’s FFA exhibitors and the Lamberton United Methodist Church, and has written a weekly column for the Lamberton News for the past 57 years.
Each year, only one individual is selected for the Minnesota State Fair Hall of Fame and one for honorary life membership in the Minnesota State Agricultural Society.
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Fair Board Members Re-Elected to Lead in 2023 |
At the 164th Annual Meeting of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society, held Jan. 13-15 in Bloomington, Minn., Joe Scapanski of Sauk Rapids was re-elected to a second one-year term as president of the Society. Three board members were also re-elected: Joe Fox of Maplewood was re-elected to a two-year term as State Fair board vice president representing the Society’s fourth regional district. Gordy Toenges of Alden, Gail Johnson of Anoka and Kirk Peysar of Aitkin were each re-elected to three-year terms representing the Society’s first, third and sixth districts respectively.
The 10-member volunteer board of managers is elected from Society delegates to set policy and provide oversight for the fair. Nine members represent the society’s nine regional districts, and the 10th (the president) serves at large. The executive vice president serves as the fair’s CEO.
Society delegates comprise each of the state’s 87 county fairs and representatives of 44 statewide associations involved in agriculture, horticulture and education. The Society is charged exclusively with the production of the annual Minnesota State Fair and management of the historic 322-acre State Fairgrounds.
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State Fair Board of Managers (left to right): Wally Wichmann, Balaton, Minn., 7th District; Gordy Toenges, Alden, Minn., 1st District; Joe Fox, Maplewood, Minn., 4th District, Vice President; Jeff Hawkins, Inver Grove Heights, 2nd District; Gail Johnson, Anoka, Minn., 3rd District; Joe Scapanski, Sauk Rapids, Minn., President; Sara Donaldson, Minneapolis, Minn., 5th District, Vice President; Danny Grunhovd, Gary, Minn., 9th District; Kirk Peysar, Aitkin, Minn., 6th District; Ray Erspamer, Hibbing, Minn., 8th District. |
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Fair Visit Brings Family Fun and New (Unexpected) Glasses |
Ali and Zach, despite living out of state while Zach serves in the military, try to return to Minnesota every summer to attend the Minnesota State Fair. When they visited in 2019, they brought their baby Audrey and stopped by the Lions Club KidSight booth at Health Fair 11 at the Fair for a quick child vision screening.
The couple now have three young daughters, and when they came to the fair in 2022, they made a point to visit Health Fair 11 once again for vision screening. To their surprise, 3-year-old Audrey did not do well, despite passing her vision test at her check-up eight months prior.
Audrey’s next step was a visit to the ophthalmologist, and she got her first pair of glasses. Her mom emailed the fair to find out how she could contact the Lions Club to thank them for doing vision screenings as part of Health Fair 11. “There were no other indications Audrey needed glasses, so the doctor told us that we are lucky to find this vision issue at such a young age,” Ali wrote. With her new glasses, “we have noticed an increase in her confidence, and she has shown a greater interest in reading books and drawing. We are so grateful! We plan to continue visiting the Heath Fair 11 booth each year specifically for the vision screening for our younger two daughters as well.”
Health Fair 11 at the Fair has offered free or low-cost health checks and health education for all guests attending the State Fair since 2001. This year, more than 77,000 screenings and connections were made by 17 health-related organizations that filled the Health Fair 11 exhibit. Nearly 2,900 of these were Lions Club KidSight free vision screenings for kids 6 months to 16 years old. In all, Health Fair 11 reports 1,380,897 health connections made in the exhibit’s 21 years at the fair!
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40 Years Ago: Fairborne Joins Fairchild as Our Second Mascot
From the State Fair Daily News, Aug. 26, 1983: “There is a new furry addition to the Minnesota State Fair – Fairborne, nephew of Fairchild, the exposition’s gopher mascot. Fairchild met his little nephew in his hometown of Gopherville, Minn., while vacationing after the ’82 State Fair. The resemblance is apparent at first sight … those big friendly eyes, plastered on smiles and rhythmic waddle. Fairborne and Fairchild have a very busy schedule during the ’83 exposition with television interviews, personal appearances, riding in the mall parades and greeting fairgoers. We all hope that Fairborne has the stamina that Fairchild has displayed for the past few years. Good luck, Fairborne, and welcome aboard!”
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It's Time to Start Thinking About Summer Hiring! |
The snow’s still piled high, but in a few short weeks, we’ll start our process of hiring summer employees and interns for a variety of departments. Most of these positions begin work in the spring or early summer and go through September. For examples of summer positions, please check out the employment page on our website. Plus, sign up to receive employment email updates. When details are available, we'll send you information on open opportunities and how and when to apply.
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Group Fundraising Is Easy, Fun & Profitable at the Fairgrounds |
The Minnesota State Fair offers a great way for sports teams, community organizations, clubs, schools, churches and other groups to team-build while raising funds. Available opportunities include working on fairgrounds clean-up teams, in the Coliseum, barns, Grandstand or with our Parking and Park & Ride services. No prior experience is needed - we provide training, equipment and supplies to do the work. Group members can work alongside friends or teammates and enjoy the fair before or after their shift. In return, groups earn money to put toward whatever they're fundraising for – equipment, uniforms, travel expenses, facility maintenance, and more.
If you’re part of a group of at least 10 who are age 16+, visit the Fundraising Opportunities page of our website for more information.
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State Fair Wins National Ag Education Award |
The National Association of Agriculture Educators (NAAE) recently honored the Minnesota State Fair with its Outstanding Cooperation Award, given to organizations, agribusiness companies and others who have given outstanding support to agricultural education. The fair was recognized for its work with FFA through livestock shows, agricultural demonstrations, judging contests, agriculture technology and more, as well as its presentation of multiple ag education opportunities at the fair, including the Moo, Baa and Oink booths, the CHS Miracle of Birth Center, EquiMania!, Little Farm Hands, and more.
One of six regional winners recognized on the national level, the Minnesota State Fair was the awardee selected from Region III, which also includes Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
NAAE’s 9,000 members are involved in school-based agricultural education from middle school through postsecondary and in agricultural education leadership. The organization advocates for agricultural education, provides professional development, and works to recruit and retain agricultural educators in the profession.
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2022 State Fair Was the Great International Get-Together |
According to data on ticket buyers for the 2022 Minnesota State Fair, we welcomed guests from 37 countries (besides the U.S.) and all 50 states! Here’s a geography test – match these countries with their dot on the map above:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam
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Recognizing Decades-Long Support of State Fair Dairy Programs
Jerry Albrecht exhibited his first Holstein at the Minnesota State Fair in 1950. He met his wife, Jan, when they were both 4-H’ers in Renville County, and since then, the Albrechts have had a long history of being involved in dairy programs at the fair.
They owned a Holstein dairy farm near Watertown, Minn., for 40 years, and provided the Milking Parlor Display Herd showcased in the Cattle Barn in 1988 and 1989. Jan worked in the Milking Parlor at the fair for 28 years and was a constant champion for 4-H youth as they exhibited their livestock.
For decades, Jan also served numerous organizations that support the success of the State Fair, including the Carver County Fair Board, the Minnesota Federation of County Fairs and the Minnesota Livestock Breeders’ Association.
In 2002, the Albrechts became one of the first 100 donors who gave funds to establish the Minnesota State Fair Foundation. They have continued their support of the fair with several contributions to improve the fairgrounds and significantly enhance the exhibitor experience in the Cattle Barn. The couple considers the fair to be a valuable resource celebrating the accomplishments of Minnesota’s farm families and especially youth, and chose to leave a legacy through their estate plan that will help ensure that the State Fair’s dairy program remains one of the nation’s pre-eminent shows for generations.
The Minnesota State Agricultural Society and the Minnesota State Fair Foundation expressed their gratitude to the Albrechts with a special recognition at the Society’s 164th Annual Meeting in mid-January.
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Apply Now for Program Honoring Multi-Generation Family Farms |
Century Farms, a partnership between the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Farm Bureau, recognizes Minnesota farms that have been in continuous family ownership for at least 100 years, are 50 acres or more, and are currently involved in agricultural production. Each year, typically more than 100 farms are honored as Century Farms, bringing the total to more than 11,000 farms that have been recognized since the program began in 1976.
Farms celebrating 150 years or more of continuous ownership are invited to apply through the Minnesota Farm Bureau for Sesquicentennial Farm recognition. To date, 450 farms have been honored as such.
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Early Spring Deadline to Order Recognition Benches and Tables |
If you’d like to celebrate family, friends and special moments with a personalized recognition bench or table – your own unique place to visit when you come to the State Fair – please note that the deadline is May 1 to have a bench or table in place for the 2023 State Fair.
(Photo from WCCO TV Channel 4: For nearly 50 years, tech guru Mike Dorschner used his problem-solving skills and ingenuity to power WCCO Television and the station’s State Fair booth. After Mike passed away, his friends and family raised funds for a memorial bench that now sits outside the WCCO booth at the fair.)
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The Ultimate Fishing Show for Muskie Anglers of All Ages
When a workplace injury inspired George Wahl to redirect his work to the promotion of all things muskie, he launched the Minnesota Muskie Expo. George passed away from cancer in 2008 at age 65, but the popular expo carries on. This year’s event, March 10-12 at the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, features retailers, resorts, tackle manufacturers, Kids Zone, guides, seminars, boats, publications, and more. Get show details at George’s Minnesota Muskie Expo.
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The Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs event showcases projects by students in grades 6-12 who attend school (public, private, charter and home school) in Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Sherburne, and Wright counties. The event, March 3-5 at the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, features projects in 21 categories from embedded systems, biomedical engineering and systems software to translational medical science and computational biology and bioinformatics. (We had to look up what these topics were too!)
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Upcoming Events at the Fairgrounds |
January
27-29: Legacy Luau Gymnastics Invitational
27-Feb. 5: Vulcan Snow Park and Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition
29: Saint Paul Winter Carnival Fire & Ice Run/Walk
February
Thru Feb. 5: Vulcan Snow Park and Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition
11: North Star Roller Derby Season 17 – Bout 4
18: Gina Morri Invitational Gymnastics Meet
25: 13th Annual Winter Beer Dabbler
March
3-5: Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs
10-12: George’s Minnesota Muskie Expo
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Gregorio Sosa, center, along with his friends and family, were among fair guests who were highlighted in “Many Cultures – Common Traditions,” a video made possible by the Minnesota Humanities Center, Oromia 11, To Know Productions and Cultural Destinations LLC. The project was part of the AmericaTV.me productions, where diverse Americans can see themselves in stories in the media. Dr. Bruce Corrie, producer of the video, wrote, “It was so special to experience how diverse Minnesotans all celebrate something common and important to Minnesota. When you view the video, you will be inspired by the common thread of humanity that binds us together.” (Photo by Andy Berndt)
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