Editors' Notebook

REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Our state fair is a great state fair. It's a fact. There's even a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about it. I'm pretty biased that the Iowa State Fair is the best, even though I've been to some other great fairs.

What makes the Iowa State Fair the best? I could answer with all the best foods, or the many fantastic exhibits, or the contests, or the free entertainment. Those are definitely great bonuses at the fair, but honestly, my favorite part of the fair is the people.

I have been fortunate to attend the Iowa State Fair every year since I can remember. I'm not sure if that's every single year of my life, but it sure would be close. The memories I have from the fair have been shared with my family and my closest friends. Each year I think about all my great memories from our 171-year-old Iowa State Fair.

Prior to the fair finding its location on over 400 acres in Des Moines, it traveled to different locations.

When I was a child, our main focus at the fair was showing cattle, and we were lucky enough to have success in 4-H, open Angus and FFA shows. The purple ribbons are great and provide many memories of meeting people from across the state and even from other states. My kids are the third generation in our family to enjoy this tradition.

I can recall from when I was a young person the beginning of several parts of the fair that are now mainstays. John Mortimer, who is from my home county, was the driving force behind the Cattlemen's Beef Quarters where thousands of people enjoy Iowa beef each year.

Many people from our county volunteered at the Beef Quarters through the years as John managed it for 38 years with 2023 being his final management year. What started in 1985 as a large tent eventually got a permanent home at the fairgrounds.

I recall from the 1980s a life-sized black fiberglass steer being delivered to our house and later loaded onto the truck and trailer for delivery to the fairgrounds. Its final spot was atop the Beef Quarters to provide a landmark for the meeting place of a great eating experience.

COLLEGE YEARS AT THE FAIR

I was fortunate to spend the summer of 1995 as an intern at the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation. Since its inception in 1993, the foundation has raised more than $200 million to preserve our fairgrounds. My major project that summer was to find the best benches to place around the fairgrounds through donations for the fair. People would buy a bench, and then the foundation staff and state fair staff would figure out where they needed to be placed. It's such a joy to still see benches spread throughout the fairgrounds for people to rest today. It, along with many other projects, has provided funds to keep our fair looking beautiful.

That same summer, my dad decided to enter our bull, JC Mac Stud, in the Super Bull competition. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a trend of very large-framed cattle, and our Angus bull followed that trend. He had gotten too big to be breeding cows, so Dad decided to see just how big he could get him. Mac Stud brought home the purple ribbon at that fair, weighing in at 3,265 pounds. It was a record at the time. It's still fun to find the brick that was purchased in the bull's honor and lies in the area just outside the cattle barn.

THE TRADITION CONTINUES

Watching my children grow up with the familiarity of the fair in their life has been a joy. They have had their share of purple ribbons and have helped other friends and families achieve theirs.

The cattle barn has been the location of many memories through the years, some champion celebrations, and some moments of defeat; but the best part is you always know there is a friend waiting for you there.

The Iowa State Fair really is the best 10 days of summer. It's hard to imagine our summer without the fair. If you've never been to the fair in your area, take the time to go. Enjoy a lemonade shake-up or a pork chop on a stick or whatever fair food is all the craze there. Wander through a livestock barn, take in a show, ride the scariest ride you can find, and just take the time to enjoy the people around you. Because it's the people who make a fair enjoyable year after year.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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