New Things Coming To Crow Wing County Fair

The Crow Wing County Fair starts this week in Brainerd. There are a few new things this year, including a brand new welcome sign to the fairgrounds.

The fairgrounds were bustling today while crews worked to get set up for tomorrow, the opening of this year’s county fair.

“We work really hard until the day the fair opens up, tomorrow. We’ll be ready to rock and roll,” said Gary Doucette, Crow Wing County Fair Manager.

There is a lot to look forward to this year, from the 4-H Building, the livestock, the rides, and of course, the food.

“The fair is the fair. We have a full schedule of entertainment in the grandstands with the bull riding, and the monster trucks, that’s a big draw, motocross,” explained Crow Wing County Fair President Sharron Ryappy. “Then the last two nights are Baja racing which is also a big, big deal here.”

In addition to the old standbys, there are also some new things to look forward to.

“One is the White Tiger Discography, which is an educational and kind of a hands-on type of thing for the White Tigers which are on the Endangered Species List. The other thing is we have Knocker Balls which is a big, blown-up ball with a tube in the middle that, and we already have one competition that happens to be Steve Kohls from The Dispatch and Gary Doucette, the manager of the fair,” added Ryappy. “They are going to duke it out at Sumo wrestlers.”

Something else that is new this year is the welcome sign which was made by Central Lakes College welding students.

The partnership provided a perfect opportunity for welding students to get hands-on, real-world experience in their field.

“Designing it and actually seeing it go up, that’s pretty cool, and seeing your final product,” said Rod Berg, one of the welding students who worked on the project.

“It was enjoyable as an instructor to watch that group of students do that project with me just standing back from a distance and keeping on the right track,” added David Otto, the daytime welding instructor at Central Lakes College.

No matter what your interests, the Crow Wing County Fair has something for everybody.

“When you see the kids smiling, when they got those ribbons, I mean it just touches your heart,” added Doucette. “Because I mean it’s just something special to them.”

“I’d just like to tell everybody to come out to the fair. I don’t know if anybody is aware but we do have restricted parking on 13th Street because of the detour. So parking might be a little difficult,” Ryappy explained. “Don’t give up. Find a place and come on in. Admission is free.”

The fair starts tomorrow and continues through Saturday. For more information and to view the schedule of events, visit www.crowwingcountyfair.com.