Happy Valentine's Day!

A Toast to Toasty Toes

I appreciated these socks on a hot August day for their artistic value (these went home with a blue ribbon in 2011), but on a chilly January night these works of textile art transcend appearance and technical expertise and remind me of their function -- to keep one's feet warm! I don't, alas, have the name of the master knitter responsible for these cozy-looking red and white socks, but I hope he or she (or a lucky friend or relative) is sitting at home right now, wool-clad feet up on an ottoman, enjoying toasty warm toes while working on whatever sweaters or socks are headed for the Minnesota State Fair in 2013.

Do you knit? If so, have you ever entered your creations in a State Fair competition? I can knit hats -- very nice hats, thank you very much -- but nothing else. Maybe one of these years it will be time to branch out to socks, and from there onward to sweaters. And of course there's nothing like a jaunt through the Creative Arts building to get inspired!

New Improvements Coming Your Way in 2013!

There's always work to be done at the Minnesota State Fair. Maintaining existing buildings and landscapes, building new attractions, adding new public art, making tweaks here and there to meet the evolving needs of visitors... all this takes a tremendous amount of time and money. The Minnesota State Fair recently voted on nearly six million dollars of improvements to be made this year, including the following:

• A new bathroom west of the DNR building
• New roofs for the Ramberg Senior Center
• Utility infrastructure improvements
• A grab bag of "hundreds of painting, maintenance, and landscaping projects throughout the 320-acre State fairgrounds."

It's not glamorous, but it's these types of improvements and maintenance projects that keep the place humming for an INTENSE 12 days each summer. So next time you're there take a moment to look around, check out the landscape, and appreciate the massive amounts of manpower and money that goes into keeping our beloved Fairgrounds looking (and working) so fair.

Behind the Brick: Taopi Post Office

Have you heard of Taopi? Nope, me neither. Not surprising, I suppose, as Taopi has a population of 58. Until recently, however, they also had their own post office. It was -- as the brick suggests --   Minnesota's smallest post office, and reportedly the second smallest in the country.

Unfortunately you can probably guess how the story goes. Budget cuts across the land have hurt post offices everywhere, and communities across Minnesota and across the nation are, unfortunately, losing their local post offices. Taopi managed to hang on to theirs until November 2011. These days Taopi residents have to head to Le Roy. These days, the memory of Taopi's small post office lives on, both in Taopi as well as in brick form at the Minnesota State Fair.

To purchase a commemorative brick of your own, contact the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.

Behind the Brick: Donut Booth

This one caught my eye because, well, I like donuts. Turns out there's an interesting little story behind it, too. An initial search for "Ramsey County donut booth state fair" brought up the intriguing blog post titled "State Fair donut booth deception revisited." Donut deception? What, were they passing off something -- fried bits of non-donut pastry puffs, perhaps -- as the real thing?  Had I, as a member of the donut-eating public, ingested something non-donutey?

Nope. Never fear, fellow donut connoisseurs, at least not those of you with DFL leanings. Turns out the 10th Ward Rural Ramsey County Donut Booth -- aka Grandstand Donuts -- is run by the Ramsey County DFL PAC, with proceeds used to support local DFL districts. In 2012 the booth had more than $116,000 in sales, netting them about $34,000 in profits. Who said politics and fried dough can't mix?

As for Fran Voerding and Lora Lindorfer? I don't have much information about these two women, but they must have worked tirelessly indeed to have earned their own commemorative Minnesota State Fair brick, which, after all, will be around far longer than will one of their mini-donuts.

To get a brick of your own, contact the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.

Five Things: Sweet Martha's Cookies

1. Sweet Martha's has been serving up cookies at the fair since 1979!
2. When not practicing the art of cookie baking, Martha Rossini Olson is teaching art at Highland Catholic School in St. Paul [UPDATE: make that enjoying art outside of the classroom! She is now retired.]
3. Sweet Martha's has a tradition of celebrities and VIPs getting behind the counter to serve up cookies to fair-goers; in 2004, Vice-President Dick Cheney took a turn as cookie vendor.
4. Sweet Martha's is high-tech! In 2012, their 450 employees used the new "When I Work" scheduling app. Sweet Martha's is also on Pinterest. 
5. They can bake more than 23,000 cookies in 12 minutes!

Favorite Meeting Spot

Do you have a favorite meeting spot at the Minnesota State Fair? If not, you might want to get inspired by this piece of chainsaw art. "A Favorite Meeting Spot" was carved by artist Dennis Roghair in 2005. If you've been to the fair, you've seen Roghair's work. This Minnesota sculptor's hand (and by extension, saw) can be seen all over the state fair, where he has transformed the stumps of long-dead trees into lasting works of art. If you want to check out "Favorite Meeting Spot" for yourself -- or use it for your own meeting spot in the future -- it's conveniently located by the giant corn roast stand.