Wow! Whatta first day at the Mower County Fair.

Friday, August 11, 2000

Wow! Whatta first day at the Mower County Fair.

Dave Andree was telling me about the great pumpkin weigh-off coming up at the end of September, but John Mueller and the boys had other things on their minds, so when I saw Ella Marie Lausen and she told me all about the good old days when Frank Durst used to take his cattle to every county fair for miles around, I learned something, and I was thinking about when Carmen Thompson told me for the umpteenth time there is no Celebrity Sheep Show, and I might as well forget about getting revenge for last year’s performance, so then I had to tell Jeremiah Krebsbach, who helped me win a reserve champion ribbon last year, the bad news and that I wouldn’t be needing his services anymore and that he should go chase girls, and he said "I already am," and then I decided to check in with Sheldon Sayles, who asked me "Why is former Austin Mayor John O’Rourke running for county commissioner?" and told him the city is trying to take over the county board and saw Dave Quinlan, who told me all about the concerns for pseudorabies at the swine show, the origins of 4-H, the work of the county’s cultural coordinator and a fellow from Argentina, whose name I forget, but I do remember Odean Sola and his wife sitting beside me, and then Mildred Ballantyne stopped to ask whether the beef was cooked yet and ready to eat, and I told her "No" and that she would have to wait, and then Brad Walter and Terry Voigt and I were talking about how the sad tragedies that have been happening lately in the area to young people and about that time Brent Young started telling me all about the Beef Cook-off and what I was supposed to do and then a fellow – I can’t remember who – stopped me to ask about one of the commissioners’ health and I told him the truth: that a lot of people ask about that county commissioner, but before I knew it, Bob Finbraaten sat down to say "Hello" and shared the news from Adams, which reminds me, is it just me or does anybody else think Adams Police Chief Gordy Briggs looks slimmer since he shaved his moustache, which reminds me, why is Doug Johnson starting rumors about me, when he knows perfectly well it’s my job to do that, and then I ran into Bob Radloff and Lawrence Hansen, who weighed in with his opinion on prostitutes, but I forgot what he said, because I was late to take a picture of the rock that has been illegally dumped along Turtle Creek and which has Ralph Waters upset.

Stop and take a breath, readers.

If you guessed there’s another Mower County Fair going on, you guessed right.

It’s doesn’t get any better than this in the summertime: interesting people, the best ice cream around in the 4-H building and chasing kids and cows.

Last night, I watched the 4-H Sheep Show with Nels Sorenson of Dexter and in the space of about 30 minutes, little brother Lance came up and asked him for advice about 30 times.

If anyone thinks 4-Hers don’t take what they do seriously, let them see the competition up close and behind the scenes.

The county fair is the springboard to the Minnesota State Fair. Win a state fair trip and you can brag about it for the rest of your life.

But just competing seems to work well, too.

Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting have their fans, but, me? 4-H is the best program of its kind. Bar none.

Strange sighting at the county fair: Austin Mayor Bonnie Rietz and Mower County Commissioners Ray Tucker and Len Miller posing for a picture – together – and smiling from ear to ear. Unbelievable.

There is no story too big or too small for this reporter. People know it.

Don’t forget to visit the Austin Daily Herald booth in the Plager Building at the Mower County Fair. I’ll be there Saturday night until I have to leave early to go practice for the cow-milking contest Sunday.

Lynn Sathre twisted my arm to enter the contest at 2 p.m. near the Mower County ADA milk wagon.

Can you believe this, Bonnie What’s-Her-Name and I will square off under a Holstein?

I’ve had the Mower County Dairy Princess Amanda Rice, Dave Weness and Daryl Boehm coaching me all week long.

Squeeze, twist and pull, squeeze, twist and pull, squeeze, twist and pull; I can do that.

See ya’ at the Mower County Fair. It’s the best.