The Sherburne County Fair began Thursday, kicking off with Daycare Day. Exhibitors showed up at 9 a.m., along with the Sherburne County 4-H, to get their presentations ready.

 

There is much to see, much too do and much to learn at the county fair this year. 

 

One of the first attractions to draw the attention of the daycare kids was the free corn maze designed and planted on the county fairgrounds by the 4-H kids. 

 

Sherburne County Soil and Water has built a new rain garden on the fair grounds this year to show homeowners how conserving rainwater and planting a garden might look.

 

“We are a conservation referral service just out here to make ourselves known,” said Franny Jerde. “We can help with any kind of conservation project.

 

 I’d like to get as many native plants as possible in the ground. We also do water quality monitoring and conservation planning.”

 

Red Colwill of Tri-County Tree Services is a certified arborist with years of experience behind him. Oak wilt, and its cousin, burr oak blight, are two of the hazards Sherburne county trees are facing more often in the past three years he says.  

 

“Tubakia dryina, or leaf spot, is another one that is attacking burr oaks,” Colwill said. “It’s a slow moving fungus and it is treatable. You can prolong the life of the tree or it will die from a chronic fatal disease.”

 

“We also offer an organic treatment for Emerald Ash Borer,” he said. “It has proved quite effective in Canada but it hasn’t been offered around here much.”

 

Lisa Johnson of Tasty Bakes and Crafts was invited by the fair board to come all the way from Tennessee to teach fairgoers about the history of candle making and how to make a candle, something she refers to as Candlemaking 101.

 

“It’s part of a 4-H teaching grant,” Johnson said. “This is history year. Candles have been used for light since 800 B.C.”

 

Lisa’s candles look and smell delicious. Class participants get to make a sundae candle to take home.

 

The Sherburne County Broadband Coalition, which includes county, private industry and concerned citizens, had an exhibit to raise awareness about the need for better internet services in Sherburne County.

 

About 65% of Sherburne County residnets are unserved or underserved when it comes to broadband availability, said Big Laker George Wallin. 

 

“They are not putting any capital into it,” he said. “We need to catch up and then we need to maintain or we will be behind the times. We need this if we are going to stay a vital, vibrant community.”

 

Sherburne County History Center Director Mike Brubaker and Diane Jacobsen of The Carousell Works were manning a booth for the history center.

A picture of clean-up after the record-breaking snow which fell in 1965 brought back a flood of memories for Diane.

 

“I was a newly wed then,” she recalled. “We worked down in Golden Valley and car-pooled every day.”

 

One particular day it snowed so hard on the way home they couldn’t make it past Monticello, Diane said.  The whole car pool ended up spending the next two nights at the home of Leo and Opal Stokes, until the plows could get through.

 

“Later in the spring there was flooding,” she recalled. “I had a foot of water in the basement of my house. The river created a new channel that year. The bridge was holding the water back but it was coming up over the road.”

 

Diane lives in the same house on the banks of the Elk River today, but nothing like it has happened since, she said. 1965 was also the year a tornado tore through the area, damaging buildings and killing an elderly woman who lived out in Orrock. She was not able to take shelter from the storm.

 

The Elk River Fire Dept. brought their recently refurbished 1989 ladder truck to the fair.

 

“It cost $241,000 to refurbish this truck for the next 10 years,” said Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Surratt. “It would cost $1.1-$1.2 million to replace it.

 

Now it’s in mint condition with new pumps and LED lighting. We use it a lot around town. It can pump 1500 gallons of water per minute.”

 

Shane Martin provides the musical entertainment in the Lions Garden Saturday night. Sunday is seniors day and Sherwin Linton will appear on the free stage at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

 

The Sherburne County Rise-Up Riders 4-H horse show will be in the horse arena at 8 a.m. Rockets and balloons wil be launched by 4-H members in the grandstand at 10 a.m.

 

Win a prize for the ugliest cowboy boots at the fair office at noon. The seniors ice cream social begins at 1:30 p.m. and eight bikes will be given away at 3 p.m. 

 

Finally, in the grandstand, the Demolition Derby begins at 6 p.m. There will also be a youth derby for the first time.