It’s Dodge County Free Fair Time!

Droves of people will be making their way to the one-year delayed Dodge County Free Fair that begins Wednesday, July 14 at the fairgrounds. After a year off due to the global pandemic, the excitement is building to get out and do what’s normal in southeast Minnesota.

I’ve been enlisted to assist Wayne Hendrickson in being a judge of photography. It’ll be an experience I have had since judging 4-H’ers at the Carlton County Fair in Barnum back in the 1990s.

Fairs are fun for kids of all ages.

We’re going to invite everyone to stop by the Dodge County Independent booth for a chance to win a gift card to Clem’s Cups & Cones and other less delicious prizes.

For those who wish to subscribe to the DCI, we’ll be offering you a fair special.

As usual, the fair will feature evening events for kids of all ages. Grandstand events should capture the attention of all fair goers.

Events in the arena start Wednesday, July 14 with an Enduro Race followed by fireworks. Stock car racing moves into the grandstand on Thursday. On Friday, at 7 p.m. the Rice Bull Riding Challenge moves into the arena. Entertainment follows the bull riding competition.

While it’s a great get-together, it’s especially exciting this year after the coronavirus shut down the fair and a host of other activities in 2020. Remember when we heard the fair, Festival in the Park, and the Kasson Aquatic Center allowed only a limited number of folks at a time? Or, that last year’s Minnesota Twins games were played in front of cardboard cutouts?

Well, the Twins aren’t doing all that well in 2021, but they are playing before real people in the stands.

I guess that makes this year’s county fair one of the most anticipated events of the year in Dodge County.

No facemask mandate, no social distancing, and one may shake the hand of a friend, without fear of spreading the dreaded COVID-19. (Keep hand sanitizer handy just to be cautious.)

I’m tend to drawn to the 4-H and FFA livestock judging and the barns where I am able to view the kids and their animals without the tension of judging. It’s a great time to be a kid and it’s a great time for them to show off their projects.

I encourage everyone to clear your schedule and spend time at the Dodge County Fair…it’s FREE!

FUN

...a good and wholesome thing is a little harmless fun in this world; it tones a body up and keeps him human and prevents him from souring.

Mark Twain