Steele County Free Fair Talent Winners

Winners in the Steele County Free fair Amateur Talent Contest were as follows:

• Preteen winner was Lainie Rahn of Medford, who performed a dance to "Dollhouse." Hailey Kjeersten of Owatonna took second.
• Teen winner was Kyra Rahn of Medford, who did a dance to "Stand in the Light." Second-place honors went to Izzy Melgaard of Owatonna.
• The open class winner was Brooke Morena of Owatonna, who performed "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty." Second place went to M.C. Purchased of Owatonna.

All three first-place winners will advance to compete at the Minnesota State Fair.

Meanwhile the rain did hold down the attendance at this year's fair. The crowd was estimated at 279,737, which was down by about 9 percent from last year's estimated attendance of 307,403.

Rain caused the Tuesday night bull riding to be cut short. It also resulted in the Hairball concert Thursday night, the truck and tractor pull on Friday night, and the Saturday morning Antique Tractor Pull and evening Enduro to be canceled.