Just as the Mower County Fair is an institution in Austin in August, good food on a stick is an institution at county and state fairs.

Wednesday, August 09, 2000

Just as the Mower County Fair is an institution in Austin in August, good food on a stick is an institution at county and state fairs.

Or so I thought until Tuesday. Put something on a stick and people will eat it up, literally, because they’re at a fair.

Not being much of a fair-goer in my lifetime, my expectations of the Mower County Fair were based solely on my own preconceived notions of what every fair is like – a bunch of smelly animals, loud-mouthed carnival workers and, of course, a lot of good food. On a stick.

Sure enough, I could smell the animals almost immediately upon entering the fairgrounds. I must admit, the smell is nowhere near what I thought it would be. Growing up in North Dakota, I’ve smelled worse just stepping out the back door on a hot summer day when the wind catches the sugar beet plant the right way.

After walking a short distance, I could hear the loud speakers coming from the midway. I was still far enough away that the sounds weren’t exactly audible. It sounded much like the teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons ("wah wah wah wah"), so I decided to head the other direction and not risk the wrath of the disgruntled ring toss attendant.

That left me with one mission, food on a stick. Anything would do, I just had to find some good food on a stick.

As soon as I passed the grandstand, there sat three young boys eating corn dogs at a picnic table. Corn dogs are the food made just to put on a stick. This mission is easier than I thought.

I asked the boys where they got their corn dogs. They were too busy eating. They just pointed down the long row of food stands and said with full mouths, "ober dere."

Not much help there. OK, why did you guys decide on corn dogs, I asked one boy.

"’Cause I don’t get them at home," 9-year-old Adam Hanson said.

Good answer, but not the one I was looking for. How about you?

"Because these guys wanted to get corn dogs," Jake Wilson, also 9, said.

Again, not the response I’d hoped for, but who can argue with a 9-year-old’s logic? I pressed on.

Walking a bit farther, I found mini-doughnuts, steak sandwiches, lemonade and pizza – none of which came on a stick, much to my dismay. What kind of fair is this, I thought. Just take the pizza, put it on a stick and dip it in a deep fryer. People will eat it.

Then I saw the words "ribs on a stick" in the distance. Finally, something on a stick. I had to have it to get the full fair experience.

"Sorry, we don’t serve those until tomorrow," the young lady at the stand said. "They have to be smoked for five hours."

Just my luck. I kept searching for the corn dog booth to no avail. Walking by Crane Pavilion, though, I happened upon the beef cookoff, where there were free samples of various beef products served on toothpicks.

Not quite a stick, but getting closer.

I was about to give up when I saw a young girl eating a corn dog like my friends Adam and Jake had earlier in the day. But 5-year-old Carlie White, sitting with her mom and brother, was too busy eating to say where she got her corn dog or whether she liked it.

I couldn’t blame her. It’s what I’d been searching for for hours. Then I found it. The caramel apple stand. Hey, those come on sticks. I better get one of those. But wait, right next to it was the corn dog stand. I’d finally found it.

How to handle such a tough situation?

I couldn’t decide, so I settled for pizza. Not on a stick.

Fair schedule

Today

Kids Day

Parking charges until 9 p.m.

Until 4 p.m. – 4-H Rabbit Skillathon in Rabbit Building.

Until 5 p.m. – Kids Day on the Carnival: $12 wristbands.

2 p.m. – Jim Wedgewood on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

2:30 p.m. – 4-H Cow-Calf Judging by pens.

3-10 p.m. – Open Class Dairy and Sheep Entries accepted.

4 p.m. – Jim Wedgewood on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

5-6:30 p.m. – Talent show Pre-teen division on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

7 p.m. – Jim Wedgewood on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage; Phaz 3 on the Farm Bureau Stage.

7:30 p.m. – Moto Cross at the Grandstand. Tickets $7 each all ages.

10 p.m. – Plager building closes.

Thursday

Senior Citizens Day

Parking charges from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

10 a.m. – Open Class Rabbit Show.

10 a.m. – 4-H Dog Agility Show, Crane, both arenas.

10 a.m. – 4-H Dog Show and Dog Exhibitor’s Interviews, Crane North Arena.

Noon – Lions Dinner, 4-H building.

Noon – Plager building opens.

1-3 p.m. – Mel’s Polka Stars.

1 p.m. – FFA and 4-H Safe Tractor Driving Contest.

1:30 p.m. – FFA Swine Show, barrow classes.

3 p.m. – Senior Citizens Recognition Ceremony on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

3:30 p.m. – Tena and Lena on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

4:30 p.m. – Celebrity Livestock show, Crane Pavilion, North Arena.

5-6 p.m. – Froiland Family on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

6:30 p.m. – Tena and Lena on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

7-8 p.m. – Michael McFarland at the Farm Bureau Stage.

7 p.m. – FFA Beef show-Crane Pavilion 4-H beef allowed.

7:30 p.m. – Demolition Derby – Grandstand event – tickets $7 – Tena and Lena will be singing the National Anthem

8-9:30 p.m. – Cedar River All Stars Band on Godfather’s Pizza Fair Square Stage.

10 p.m. – Plager Building closes.