With the snip of a ribbon, the Mower County Free Fair officially kicked off Tuesday night at Fair Square.

“The 2014 Mower County Fair is officially open for business,” said Neal Anderson, president of the fair board.

The event began with the presentation of the Color Guard, followed by the National Anthem sung by Brad Boice. All of this, however, was leading up to the big reveal of this year’s Fair Person of the Year.

Scott Felten, a former fair board member of six years, received the honor this year.

“It’s time [Felten] gets recognized for everything he does,” Anderson said. “He’s been a longtime friend of the fair and does a lot of [behind the scenes] work at the fair.”

Felten was pleased with the award.

“I appreciate and am thrilled by the recognition from the fair board,” he said.

LeRoy Fire and Ambulance received the Outstanding Service Organization award. Awards for Livestock Hall of Fame, Outstanding Senior Volunteer, as well as century and sesquicentennial farms were given out as well.

“Think of the fair not as the rides and the food, but the people,” master of ceremonies Dan Conradt said at the end of the program.

Recognized

The Mower County Fair gave out a number of recognitions Tuesday including:

Fair Person of the Year: Scott Felten

Century farm: Brian and Teresa Bergene, James and Lori Staley, Wayne Johnson

Outstanding senior volunteer: Rita Jette

Livestock Hall of Fame: Randy Stephenson

Outstanding Service Organization: LeRoy Fire and Ambulance