The 4-H animals are back on the farm, the food trailers and carnival rides have moved on to their next stop. All that's left of the 2018 Steele County Free Fair are the memories (and some trampled muddy grass at the fairgrounds).

It's a fun, busy time each year as KRFO radio covers the fair with a variety of interviews and silly on-air contests. Here a few personal favorite aspects of the fair. My top five stays about the same each year.

  • Fair Food-This is basically a no-brainer. I have my favorites each year, but also try to sample something new. This year I enjoyed the pork chop sandwich from the Goette's stand and had a gyro for the first time in a few years. I also sampled the new flavored-Thumbelina mini-donuts.
  • Village of Yesteryear-I enjoy walking through the buildings each year and noticing things I hadn't before. I had an interesting interview with retired teacher Kathy Ihlenfeld at the school house. She pointed out all the similarities between the school house and today's classroom. Student desks, teacher desk, books, writing instruments were and are present. Back then it was chalk boards. Today it's white boards and other technology, but many aspects of teaching haven't changed.
  • KRFO TownSquare-The northwest corner of the Steele County Fair changed slightly with a focus on kids entertainment. Our KRFO / Kat Kountry booth was built by the fair's grounds crew to give us a regular broadcast location. It gave us a bit more visibility for the watermelon seed spitting contest (won by Josh Storm with a spit of 39-feet-5-inches) and the ladies nail driving (won by Rhonda Koeck with a time of :25.6). This post includes the picture of contestants on Education Day for watermelon seed spitting.
  • 4-H students-I have fun interviewing the kids in 4-H. From first graders to high school graduates, the students are very knowledgeable about their projects and spend plenty of time dedicated to them.
  • People-It's fun to run into people that I haven't seen in a while or chat with folks about the upcoming sports season. Many people are excited to see how the Huskies' football team will do this year. I also had some fun random conversations. I spoke with one guy who was at his 84th Steele County Fair and another at his 50th.

The fair is a great transition from summer to school. I'll see you for "Summer Days and Carnival Nights" in the 2019 from August 13-18.

teachers
Roy Koenig/Townsquare Media
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