The Red River Valley Fair Board is dumbfounded that their most recent venture has left them in the red. The answer is in the timing - all in the timing.
The fair had been an end of the summer celebration to showcase crops (given time to mature), the art of "putting up for the winter" of those crops, flowers in peak bloom, 4-H projects completed during summer vacations and livestock fattened out of doors on fresh grasses, not silage. The calves and piglets raised from spring weaning to be "fine specimens" and crafts honed to blue ribbon perfection were what made for a meeting of the spirit of urban and rural.
The barking of the politically incorrect carnies appealed to the ears, the "fine home cooking" of various church groups competed for your sense of smell and all around the sights and lights were awesome. Then there was the touch - city kids walking the straw strewn barn floors, stepping in "stuff," reaching to feel the contrast of the boney hip on a fat cow, the deep pile of the sheep and the bristly coat of a "stinky" pig and her squealing piglets.
I used to take my younger brothers to such a fair. We were city kids awed by what happened on the farm. We were jealous. We spent our allowance on junk and then were amazed when we could keep it all down after the double Ferris wheel ride and the twister.
Quit competing with the casinos and dome for big-name acts. Bigger isn't always better. Get out the calendar and put the fair back where it belongs ... at the end of an action-packed summer when animals and crops have had time to grow and crafts perfected. Let it be what it was intended to be - a memory making time capsule of our wholesome heritage and, yes, even "the economy, stupid."
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Catherine Parks Olsen
Lake Park, Minn. (former Fargo resident)
