Country Music at the County Fair

Note: Mary is on temporary hiatus during September. This post was originally written on August 30, 2006.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a Saturday wandering around the Dakota County fairgrounds, on the beautiful south side of Farmington. The county fair is an event akin to Christmas for me. I usually go two or three times. This Saturday was my first round of animal barns and mini-doughnuts.
I was munching a giant pickle on a stick when I spotted the Power 96 van parked in front of the John Deere display. Power 96 is the best radio station serving the Farmington, Northfield, and Faribault area. You know why I love this station so much? They never play ads for jewelry stores. After a couple hours of listening to 93X, I’ve heard endless reminders of where to shop for that special gift. There’s Arthur’s Jewelers, where you never ever pay mall prices, and Tom Shane, my friend in the diamond business on Radio Drive. Then there’s Dean and Yumi at Wedding Day, and Goodman’s, where you can buy a gift that goes straight through the heart. After hearing all of these ads several times a day for the past ten years, I never want to buy a special gift for anyone ever again. If you get a pair of earrings from me, I’m sorry. They are Cubic Zirconia, straight from the Dollar Store, where you never ever pay mall prices. If you really want a special gift, I hope it’s power tools.
Anyway, I was standing by the Power 96 van, wondering why they weren’t broadcasting live from the fair. They broadcast live from the Steele County fair in Owatonna. The Dakota County Fair is bigger, and it has more 4-H exhibits. As I stood there, I heard the strains of a country music song from the beer garden. The lyrics were faint. “I wear this crown of . . . a most peculiar thing . . . the needle tears a hole, that old familiar sting.” The lyrics were from the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt”. The experience was so surreal, I thought I was having an auditory hallucination. Like maybe my desire to hear Nine Inch Nails instead of country music, and the lack of Power 96 rock, was combining to make me hallucinate.
So this week I was relieved to discover that there really is a country-music version of the song “Hurt” on one of Johnny Cash’s recent albums. I did not know Johnny Cash was a Nine Inch Nails fan, but it’s not all that strange, considering Pat Boone is buddies with Alice Cooper. I proudly own a copy of “No More Mister Nice Guy”, Pat’s heavy metal cover album. His version of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” is swinging.

It’s Raining Cars!

Note: Mary is on a temporary hiatus during September - This is a post originally written on August 13, 2006.

Today’s demo derby at the Dakota County Fair was incredible. Despite the downpour between the 2nd and 3rd heats, it was awesome. This year’s Sunday matinee featured pick-ups for the 3 heats, the consolation and the championship round.
The best part was the Automotive Recyclers heat, featuring giant’70’s cars smashing into one another, each sponsored by a local parts recycler (a.k.a. a local junkyard). I have so many favorites, I didn’t know who to root for. I love Viking Auto Salvage, right here in Farmington, and I love Ace Auto Parts up in St. Paul. Ace is the first auto recycler I discovered with a database of all of their parts. Instead of going out in the yard and hunting around for a car like mine, which may or may not have the part that I need, I can call Ace and ask them what’s in stock. Viking adopted this system too. It’s great! Just like calling the auto parts store, but only better, because the people at Ace and Viking know what they’re doing.
The trucks kept getting stuck together. A truck rammed into another truck’s bumper and they couldn’t dislodge. Since it was raining, some of the trucks got stuck in the mud in the center of the pit. Even one of the tow trucks got stuck while trying to dislodge a Ford pickup. I got showered with chunks of mud a few times. Getting hit with mud at the demo derby is like getting hit with the lead singer’s sweat at a metal concert. It’s a messy badge of honor.
The rain was a bit cold, but I brought my new Farmington Tigers jacket with me. I pulled it on over my “Dakota County Fair Demo Derby 2005” T-shirt when I started to freeze. I bought my Tigers jacket at the Christos Victor Lutheran church garage sale on Friday. I have to thank Liz, the gal who donated the jacket which bears her name. Since Dueber’s department store closed there is no source of Tiger wear in Farmington. These jackets are $50 or $60 bucks and I picked one up for only $3 at the sale. Cool!
Well, I’ve got to get rolling. I just washed my Tigers jacket when I bought it, and now I’ve got to wash it again, to get the Demo Derby pit mud off it.
Today’s demo derby winner was Chris Zimmerman of Cannon Falls. Good job Chris!

Fairs, Fairs and More Fairs

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time for fairs, fairs and more fairs. Nothing could be cooler then when I caught an official 2005 demo derby shirt at the Dakota County Fair this year. The demo derby promotional staff was tossing shirts into the stands. Sure, I had a tussle with a tattooed gentleman who was missing his front teeth, but I ended up with the shirt. He was looked a little upset and then I had to sit next to him through the rest of that heat. It was awkward. Although I'm planning on attending at least a couple more fairs this year, including the State Fair and Jesse James Days in Northfield, I doubt any fair experience will surpass the demo derby.
Last weekend I passed up a chance to spend a day at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I wasn't feeling so hot Friday, so I decided to spend a low-key Saturday organizing the spice cabinet at my new house. This Saturday I have big plans to crash the 4H dance at the State Fair, like I did last year. I'm reinvigorated by my newly organized kitchen, and an exciting article I read in the Star Tribune. The article was entitled, "Minnesotans aren't the fattest in the land". Wow! This means we can indulge in quite a few State Fair treats. I'll bet after this revelation, Weight Watchers locations in strip malls all over the Twin Cities are shutting their doors. My cats have such self-assurance and boundless self-esteem that they would never darken Weight Watcher's doorstep. Their bellies might swing when they run, but they still clean their bowl every day and strut around the family room proudly. Beaner is hoping I'll save a few cheese curds for her from my trip to the State Fair. But, since we Minnesotans are not as fat as we thought, I just might eat them myself. See you at the Fair!

A Fair Day in Farmington

Every year I look forward to sitting on the hard bleachers at the Dakota County Fairgrounds, watching cars smash into each other. Yesterday the beautiful weather was accompanied by the rumbling sounds of detuned V8s at the demo derby. The spray of coolant, the clang of metal and the flash of the bright sun on a torn bumper all came together to make a magical Sunday afternoon. Dubbed "Motorhead Day" by the fair board, Sunday featured a classic car show in addition to the afternoon pick-up and salvage yard derby. The scents of burning rubber and oil smoke mingled with the deep-fried aroma of corn dogs. If you've never been to the demolition derby, you might not know that there are several heats, where cars or trucks smash into each other in a huge muddy pit until only three are running. If a driver's car is not moving for more than 10 seconds, then she has to break the flag attached to her window, and she is out of the derby. The winners of the heats compete in a championship round. A new feature of this year's derby was a raffle for a chance to drive the Viking Auto Salvage car in the salvage yard heat. The salvage yard heat is a special round just for cars sponsored by local junkyards. I've personally shopped at four of the auto parts recyclers sponsoring cars in yesterday's derby, Viking, U-Pull-R-Parts, AAA, and Ace. Nicky Moore of Burnsville won the chance to drive the Viking Auto Salvage car, number 29. The salvage yard heat was long, with a couple of cars that appeared indestructible. Nicky's car died several times, and each time it seemed she might have to break her flag. The crowd was hushed with anticipation as she tried to restart the car, and cheering as the engine roared to life. She tied for second place. The applause of the crowd was deafening as she climbed out of car 29 and raised her arms in the air in a triumphant show of victory. The cotton candy never tasted sweeter than under yesterday's clear blue sky. The wonderful weather combined with an outstanding show at the demo derby, combined to make it truly a Fair day in Farmington.

Mourning Dew Days

Well, it sounds like last summer's Dew Days celebration in Farmington will be the last. I'm glad I went while I had the chance. This year the Battle of the Bands was pretty cool. The bands even had a real stage to play on since Farmington borrowed a stage from the Lakeville Parks'n'Rec department. One of the bands came all the way from Rosemount. The winning band played the Dakota County Fair. Unfortunately, I did not get to see that show since they played at 4 PM on Thursday afternoon.



Since the Battle of the bands was outside, I brought Perro along. Perro loved the Battle of the Bands. He was rocking out! Someone brought along an iguana to see the show, and when Perro spotted the iguana, he stood up and sniffed the air. I know he recognized it was one of Whippy's brethren. He's a smart little guy.



Dew Days is one of the best parts of living in Farmington. I'll always cherish the memories of my Dew Days experiences. Ah, the memories, sitting in the beer garden with my neighbors, riding the Tilt-a-Whirl at the tiny carnival on the vacant lot downtown, and watching the winner kiss the piglet at the Kiss-the-Pig contest. I'll mourn the passing of Dew Days.



An Article on the End of Dew Days, From the Farmington Independent

Lutherans and Livestock

Dakota County Fair



Here's your chance to support Farmington Lutheran church and see some cows at the same time. Show your Farmington pride (Go Tigers!) and stop by the Dakota County Fair this weekend. I'll be selling water from 10 AM - 2 PM on Saturday at the Farmington Lutheran Church booth in the Red Commercial Building space 1.



Of course, I'll also be at the demo derby Friday night. Who can resist cars smashing into each other? The demo derby and the livestock are the best parts of the fair. Last year in the livestock barns there were rabbits bigger than Perro and a couple of 1000 lb pigs rolling around in the straw. See you there!