The 2012 Freeborn County Fair kicked off with a birth — in a bathroom near the Cattle Barn.

A baby boy was born Tuesday to parents who both work for the Texas-based carnival group Merriam’s Midway Shows. The call for emergency assistance came at 6:12 p.m.

Dale Merriam, a semi-retired owner of the traveling carnival, said the mother had worked Monday night setting up for the fair.

“She finished up well after midnight,” Merriam said.

The carnival had been in Redwood Falls on Sunday night for the Redwood County Fair, and the mother worked there, too.

Merriam said he did not have the name of the mother. His son, Todd, heads personnel but could not be reached.

The mother, who declined to be interviewed, and the baby were taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea.

Merriam said the woman is from Minnesota and they’re making arrangements, so after she leaves the hospital she will spend time with her family instead of going back on the road with the carnival. Albert Lea churches and other groups are taking up a collection to get the parents baby supplies and clothing.

“I’m sure she has none of that stuff,” Merriam said.

Freeborn County Fair Manager Norm Fredin said the emergency medical technicians who staff the fair responded.

“This is the first time we have had a baby born at the fair as far as I know,” Fredin said.

He has led the county fair for 16 years.