WOOD LAKE - Despite it being a small town with a population of a little more than 400, the Wood Lake community knows how to put on a big fair.
Wood Lake Mayor and fair planner DeWayne Schaffran said Monday that this year's Wood Lake Community Fair, with more than 20 rides, games and concessions, is one of the biggest in Southwest Minnesota.
"The people in Granite Falls call it the 'Little Worlds Fair,'" Schaffran said.
According to Schaffran, the Wood Lake Community Fair brings in more midway entertainment than either the Redwood County Fair or the Yellow Medicine County Fair.
Returning this year are old favorites like the scrambler ride and the twister, as well as several new rides such as the dragon roller-coaster.
Also new this year is a recently-reconstructed community club food stand. Open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight, the stand features grilled burgers and fresh-cut french fries.
"We don't have many restaurants, so I try to open by noon so people can come get burgers," Schaffran said.
The food stand is staffed entirely by volunteers and proceeds are funneled back into the community to be used for events throughout the year.
"Thank God for the volunteers," Schaffran said. "I wouldn't be able to do all this without them."
Volunteers Tony Rhodes and Donna Ricke manned the stand Monday afternoon with Donna's son Nathan helping by running deliveries of hamburgers around town.
"For the next few days we'll be here smelling like hamburger," volunteer grillmaster Rhodes joked. "This is our vacation."
Monday's opening of the hamburger stand was slow, but Ricke said they are expecting quite a crowd once the fair gets into full swing after the parade on Wednesday.
"People will be lined up half way down the block to get a burger," she said.
The city's history is steeped with fair tradition. The first fair started in 1935 and, except for a few years off during World War II, has continued every year since. The city sign, which features a big top tent and a carousel horse, has in the past been used as the logo for carnival supplier Midwest Attractions, Schaffran said. Each year he said he hears of people returning to town for the annual fair and has heard a class reunion is being planned around this year's event.
"We get to see all our old friends we don't see year-round," he said.
Members of the community meandered about Monday watching as carnival workers set up the rides. Old timer Jerome Schwartz stopped for a burger and took the time to reminisce about the old days of the fair.
"I've been here my whole life," fairgoer Jerome Schwartz said. "I've been coming here since I was old enough to come here. Probably since the 1950s."
Schwartz isn't the only one. Several members in the Community Club return year after year to continue the fair tradition. Fair planner Chuck Fischer, who has been with the club for 20 years, said it is about giving back to the community.
"We the people, for the people, for the benefit of the community," he said reciting the Community Club motto. "That about says it all."
