Jesse Moffitt Magic and Hypnosis show. Sherwin Linton plays Folk, Country, and Rock music. Larry Olson Band plays Polka. We would like to find a local Spanish band to put under our free tent as well.
Having a chainsaw artist do demonstrations on grounds each day; Building an open sided shelter to protect fairgoers and local performers from the elements as they watch and learn about local cultural heritage such as polka bands, local Native American dances, German bands, Century Farm and senior programs.
This year we are planning to participate in the legacy project by offering some demonstrations to educate the public in farming: a model cow that the public can milk; process of sheep shearing along with use of wool, including a child activity; demonstrations from the local Heritage Club making rope, shelling corn; show a variety of old motors and possible antique machinery items. Glass blower to present two days at our fair and demonstrate the making of fine glass products.
This year the Wilkin County Ag Society will use the legacy grant to hire musical entertainment throughout the duration of the fair. We will also have a magician and balloon artist for two days of the fair. This year we will be having a draft horse pulling demonstration that will include the history of how horse pulls played a role in early county fairs.
We intend to hire internationally renowned potter, Jim Ulmer, to demonstrate and explain the historic nature and science of creating usable ceramics and glazes. We intend to hire Andrew Osten, a local steam engine tractor owner to bring his tractor to the fair for steam engine demonstrations. We intend to hire Jody Marquardt, a locally known, publicized metal worker (blacksmith) who creates historical items out of metal.
The Beltrami County Fair is fortunate to have a variety of venues, including both Home Arts and Heritage Square, to introduce our fairgoers to various cultural, educational, agricultural and historical activities and demonstrations. Our goal is to attract more exhibitors of arts, crafts and science entries with interactive demonstrations from various artists of Minnesota. To accomplish our goal, we will be scheduling two-hour demonstrations in the Home Arts building, plus other activities in our Heritage Square, which is an open air, covered structure with bleachers available for seating.
Benton County is listed as one of the rural counties of Minnesota with lower access to the arts and culture, and has a low number of museums. As a larger event venue that provides access to the community, we utilize a couple of areas in our fairgrounds to provide access to programming that encourages participation and access to those areas. Emotion in Motion is one of the acts that we are looking forward to working with in our activity area. Families and children will enjoy an interactive program that benefits their creative process.
This application is to contract two entertainers for the 2024 Big Stone County Fair. Both entertainers are from Minnesota. The first group will be a Polka Band who will perform Polka music on the Free Stage. The second group will be a band playing a variety of modern to classic music on our free stage.
We will be looking at the way the early pioneers lived, worked and enjoyed themselves in the early days of Minnesota. Repairing a log cabin on the grounds, showing how metal work was done and explaining how early lumberjack camps worked will be a great educational experience. Also the sound of the music of the early descendants of the area will be greatly enjoyed.
We plan to rearrange the set-up of our commercial building. This building houses all of our open class exhibitis including the Minnesota Master Gardener group, Minnesota Gladiolus Society displays, all open class creative arts exhibits as well as all open class horticulture and food exhibits. By arranging in a new way we will be able to have a space open to bring in a series of indviduals and groups for creative arts, horticulture and food demonstrations throughout the fair.
We will be applying these funds toward two German heritage musical bands (Chuck Thiel and the Jolly Ramblers and The Wendinger Brothers) and also a 50's & 60's Rock n' Roll show band (Butch Automatic & The Four Speeds featuring The Bingo's).
The Pillager History Center is a building on the county fairgrounds. A history display started to grow there in early 2016, made of paper copies and memorabilia gathered from the community. At the beginning of this history collection, this building was not critter or weather proof. In previous grant cycles the building has had a critter-proofing project, and additional work has been done to further that work. Now, we are requesting funds to allow those 9-year-old paper photos and memorabilia items to be housed in better conditions.
Kipp Davis with be creating a mural on our 4-H building during our county fair - this is a painting of arts and culture of the history of 4-H in our county
The county appears to have a general interest in learning about different types of art as well as music. A local artist will provide glass-blowing demonstrations. Demonstrations will be provided during the fair on glass blowing, a form of art that interests a lot of people. The demonstrations will be provided by the House of Mulciber Mobile Engagement Unit which focuses on education of the art of glass blowing. The Clay County area has a rich heritage in country music along with other music types.
We need updates to our Scandinavian Arts Building that houses local artists' projects on display during the fair. This building houses the rosemaling/Scandinavian art projects in the front of the building. Rosemaling originates in Norway and is the painting of wooden furniture and objects with flower motifs. This art is really popular in our area and at our county fair. We are just submitting an estimate for repairs to the front of this building under the legacy grant project. The siding is rotten and now there are holes in the sides of the building.
We are hoping to continue to promote Minnesota art by bringing items back from prior years, but also improve our arts section for our fair. We would like to bring back our Birch Coulee Working Ranch Rodeo that shows our patrons the older styles of a working ranch such as cattle sorting, roping, and doctoring cattle. This also allows local participants to attend and try the different events it offers. Another popular activity we had was bringing a local blacksmith into our fair to show fairgoers the ways they created different tools in our past.
The chainsaw artist would be able to give many demonstrations throughout the week of the fair. We will contract the Lumberjack show for all seven days of the fair and have lumberjack camps and shows. We will have scheduled three shows a day.
Our project for the legacy grant would be to purchase a new performance stage for our Entertainment Center. Our current stage floor is falling apart and is no longer conducive to our needs. We are in need of a safer and larger stage area that has stairs for those using it. Our current stage doesn't have stairs. This will impact all of our performers and programs we have on this stage during the fair.
Church of Cash, an Elvis Impersonator, a blacksmith, and Smokin' Joe and the Tailpipes are all lined up to be on the Lumber Depot Free Stage at the East Otter Tail County Fair. The Minnesota performers will perform a tribute to Johnny Cash and Elvis. A blacksmith will be set up on the side of the park shelter, continually doing demonstrations so that fairgoers can interact with him. Smokin' Joe and the Tailpipes are a local Dent, MN group that will perform a variety of songs.
Homeward Bound Theatre, a Minnesota-based company, will bring THE OZ BROTHERS to perform at the Fair on July 25 and 26, with 2 stage shows each day plus they will also be strolling around the fairgrounds to entertain fairgoers. The Big Top Tent Rental from Luverne, MN will provide a 40 x 40 tent for the performers and for fairgoers.
We will have a totally new experience for one of our afternoon events for the youth at the Fillmore County Fair this year. We plan to bring "Emotion in Motion," a mobile splatter paint experience to our fair. This will be a fully immersive artistic experience, that is easy and fun for youth. When finished they will have an original splatter painting for their walls. We try to incorporate new things each year at the fair to accompany the traditional events that fairgoers expect.
1. SECOND EDITION OF McLEOD COUNTY FAIR HISTORY: 1993 through 2022 for our 150th Celebration. Our Legacy project is a continuation of documenting our agricultural association's history. The first edition of the book covered our beginning years in the late 1800's up through 1992. This second edition book will cover the years of 1993 - 2022, the year of our 150th Celebration. This important documentation of our past will preserve our agricultural history in our community and serve as the foundation of the legacy that we will carry on for future generations.
The Meeker County Fair is excited to have the "Dr. Street Magic Show." Nick Sharpe works through the Homeward Bound Theatre Company in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He has a passion for magic and recycling. Through his strolling performances Friday through Sunday he will encounter many people. Nick has been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in over 24 different countries and even in some remote parts of North Dakota. He facilitates audience participation with a twist of comedy, dazzling the multitudes with magic.
Our Legacy project consists of hiring Monroe Wright III to perform two shows on Friday of fair. He will bring several musicians to accompany him during the scheduled shows. He specializes in the music of the Mills Brothers.
Log carving is a form of art or craftsmanship that involves sculpting or carving designs, figures, or intricate patterns into logs or large pieces of wood. It often requires specialized tools like chisels, knives, and chainsaws to create detailed and often lifelike sculptures or decorative pieces. Artists use their skills to bring out the natural beauty of the wood while shaping it into various forms, ranging from animals and human figures to abstract designs.
With this grant we will be bringing in performers and entertainment to our Fair Square Stage and strolling acts. Our goal is to enrich the cultural experience of our community by providing access to diverse and engaging arts programming during our fair. This will allow us to showcase local Minnesota based talented artists and performers, fostering a deeper appreciation for arts and cultural heritage among our fairgoers.
We are excited to bring in a group that will provide some authentic "German" heritage. The "Concord Singers" from New Ulm, Minnesota will delight the fairgoers with the heritage that has been preserved, nurtured and cherished. They will perform their festive German tunes that have been inherited from their ancestors. Another new event that we will have is Draugr Forge. Zach is a bladesmith that will be demonstrating his ability to make various knives and tools using his forging skills.
We hope to have: Curtis Ingvoldstad, chainsaw artist; Jenny Leonard, presentation on raising chickens; and Neal Anderson/Brad Schloesser on raising sheep and sheep shearing and cultural heritage; and polka music by The Wendingers.
By continuing to showcase a variety of Minnesota entertainment, we can show off the talent that Minnesota has to offer and provide the citizens of Nobles County with music they maybe normally wouldn't be exposed to. This can lead to an appreciation for either a new instrument, a new genre, or maybe even a different culture.
