State Fair Memories

Originally Published Dec. 2012

“Hey, mom! You never told me they had rides at the Fair!”  And so, at the age of 16, after a day at the Fair with his friends, our son, John, discovered the secret Norm and I had been hiding for 20 years:  We were bad parents.  

You see, because we had four children, we just plain didn’t have the money to take them to the Fair every year.  And when we did take them, we especially didn’t have the money to spend on all the rides that we just knew they’d like to try.  And so, we just never walked to the Midway – the place with all the good rides and game booths.  Instead, we would visit Machinery Hill, the Creative Arts building, and the Newborn Animals Barnyard.  And, then we’d treat them to an ice cream cone or a malt in the Food Building.  We’d take them to the Epiphany Dining Hall for a big dinner and hoped they’d be so full that they wouldn’t beg for much more.

Now, Norm grew up in St. Paul and has memories of going to the Fair several times each year – usually sneaking in under the fence near the Grandstand.  Going to the State Fair was a natural part of the end-of-summer rituals that he and his friends did.  

But, I did not have those same great memories.  I remember only going to the State Fair twice as a child.  While we really didn’t live that far away – only 30 miles north in Forest Lake – we didn’t venture out to the “Cities” very often. 

There are two things I do remember, however, from my first visit to the Fair at the age of eight:  The first one is walking around the Midway where we could get lost in the House of Mirrors, or try to throw pennies or nickels into bottles for a prize or what I remember the most – seeing the Fat Lady.  I’ll never forget her just sitting there on a huge couch in one of the tents.  After the tent would get filled with people, she would take the microphone and tell us her life story.  I remember she said that she had always been big as a child and how she’d love to eat.  And, eat.  And, eat.  She had HUGE arms and she wore a sleeveless kind of moo-moo.  I was fascinated because I had never seen anyone so big in my entire life.  Of course, I was only eight.  But, she sure made a big impression on me.  I remember wondering if she could walk and how many hamburgers she would eat for one dinner.  It’s strange what goes through a young mind – and what still remains 60 years later!

The second memory I have from my first State Fair adventure is one that I don’t really remember.  I only remember it because of the many times my mom talked about it.  You see, my little sister, Joanne, had gotten lost at the State Fair.  She was only five.  We had just walked through the front gate and were getting acclimated to our surroundings when mom and dad laid down the rules.  My older brother, Steve (age 11), Joanne, and I were to stay together and not go off by ourselves.  Dad was a taskmaster and we knew we had to obey him.  I remember mom pointing to a building near the entrance and saying that if we did ever get lost, we should go to that First Aid building and tell someone there that we needed help.  That’s all I remember – because of course, I had no intention of disobeying my parents.  I knew that the only way I would get fed or get to go on the rides or get something to drink was by sticking with the ones who had the money – my parents.  My brother was okay with the rules as long as he didn’t have to acknowledge that he was with his parents or sisters.  So, he walked a little bit behind the rest of us – but still in full view.

Now….. Joanne was five and full of adventure.  She didn’t have a scared bone in her body.  While she may have heard the rules, I’m sure she really didn’t think they were meant for her.  She just skipped along with us and had a good time.

Well, as you can imagine, there came a time when my parents became involved in listening to a band play music, or sat down for a break, or were busy talking with each other and continued walking and at the same time, believing that their kids were following right behind.  But, not Joanne.  She evidently wandered off and got lost in the crowd.

They quickly discovered that Joanne was missing.  As a child, I had no idea how frightening this was for them.  But, I did know that panic struck.  They yelled for Joanne and asked people if they had seen a little five-year old girl with brown, long braids.  No one had.  After searching for what must have seemed to be quite a while, they decided to report her missing and went to the entrance to find the police station.  They were close to the First Aid station when they saw Joanne crying in front of the building.  A First Aid worker was kneeling next to her trying to comfort her.  She had told them that her mom and dad were lost.

I guess she really was paying attention when my parents were giving us the rules.  How she found her way back to the entrance of the Fair, we’ll never know.  But, she did.  And, she remembered what to do.