COUNTY FAIR TO GO

Renae Jeno, who operates Ole and Lena’s food stand, felt bad as she ran out of two of her popular items, onion rings and hotdish on a stick, by mid-afternoon Saturday.
“It’s been crazy busy,” Jeno said as people were still lining up for cheese curds. “I’ve disappointed a few people.”
Jeno, of Owatonna, was one of the 15 food vendors taking part in the Drive Through Food Fest at the Steele County Fairgrounds Friday until Sunday. It was the fair board’s goodwill gesture during a year that has disappointed many people because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Steele County Fair, which is the largest county fair in Minnesota, was shuttered like most fairs, celebrations and festivals this summer.
Part of the problem for Jeno and other vendors is that they had no idea what to expect from an event that has never taken place before. She said she went by the sales she has made at Owatonna’s Crazy Days in the past, but she ended up drastically underestimating those who turned out to get their fix of fair food.
Asked if the Food Fest exceeded her expectations, Jeno quickly responded, “Absolutely, by far.”
Jeno also admitted she underestimated what the mood of people would be like. Initially, the Food Fest was supposed to be a walk up event where people could leisurely walk around and enjoy the food, but the state came in and forced organizers to do a drive through event banning people from getting out of their vehicles. “I thought people would be upset,” Jeno said. “I was pleasantly surprised that they are receptive to it,” she added.
With a yellow safety vest on, Fair president Dan Deml directed traffic to ensure vehicles moved smoothly through a well-coordinated one-way route where thousands of people would normally walk during the fair. Fair board members set up stopping lanes for vehicles to pick up food and passing lanes for those who wanted to move on. Deml said they learned a few pointers about traffic flow from some of the vendors who took part in similar events at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Deml wasn’t alone. Most of the fair board members worked at least one shift throughout the weekend along with some other volunteers to direct traffic. “It reflects well with the community and vendors when the fair board is helping,” said Deml. “The Steele County Fair is everybody’s fair, not the fair board’s,” he added.
“We get people in and out of here quickly,” Deml said. “We kept more traffic moving through here faster rather than people parking and walking.”
Deml said the food vendors paid a fee to take part in the Food Fest. The fair was also accepting donations from the vendors to help offset the losses of not having a fair this year. But, Deml pointed out, Food Fest wasn’t about the money. “The idea wasn’t to see how much money we could make,” he said. “We had a real determination that we could find something for the vendors and the community.”
After announcing initial plans to have a walk-up event, Deml expressed disappointment when “the health department got on our case” and forced the fair to scale down to a drive through event. Deml said there were days when they wanted to pull the plug on the entire event. But, he added, the fair had a “desire to not give up.”
Wayne Steele, who serves as the fair’s publicity director, said he was impressed with the way community members were so responsive to the guidelines established for the drive-through event.
Steele said he noticed many people who haven’t come out for the last three months because of COVID-19 enjoyed the Food Fest only because they could stay in their vehicles. “People don’t have to wait in the hot sun for food. They can be in their air-conditioned vehicles,” he said.
With the sun shining and temperatures hovering in the 80s most of the week, Deml reflected on the disappointment of not having a fair. “How sad,” he said. “You throw up your hands and say it’s what it’s. You have to think of what it could have been.”