Photo by Jenny Kirk Minneota residents Marian and Etien Laleman walk hand-in-hand while attending the 2018 Lyon County Fair recently in Marshall.

MARSHALL — As the last of the area county fairs wrapped up this weekend, it was a good time to take note of how things went this year and what could be improved on for the next one.

Having started in 1903, the Lyon County Fair was celebrated for the 115th time. First Vice-President Kary Wichmann said that overall, this year’s Lyon County Fair was a good one.

“The attendance was up,” Wichmann said. “We had better numbers than last year.”

Since deciding to offer a free fair experience the past few years, Wichmann said it’s a little more difficult to gauge attendance.

“According to the carnival and the Dairy Association malt stand guy, attendance was up,” he said. “Since we don’t charge, we gotta go by the carnival and the different vendors that are here. I think it helped that they brought in more rides this year. It made the fair better. We got a lot of comments on that.”

More than 400 children were in attendance during the two daycare days.

“Thursday and Friday were day care days and they were both up in numbers,” Wichmann said. “That was good.”

While there are a lot of different events and activities that go on during the county fair, Wichmann is especially passionate about the Ralco Enrichment Center that he was instrumental in seeing come to fruition.

“It’s always a good thing to educate the public,” he said. “Just seeing those animals up close, they tend to ask a lot of questions, and we’re able to answer those questions. I like doing that.”

Along with bunnies, chicks, piglets and bees exhibited this year, there was a sow that gave birth. Various sizes of shrimp, courtesy of tru Shrimp, were also on display.

“We have to find a way to educate the public, especially since we’re surrounded by farming communities,” Wichmann said. “This is one way we can do that.”

Though it has already been a popular stop for fairgoers the last four years, Wichmann said additions are likely for 2019.

“One of the goals is to get agronomy in there and explain how we fertilize the ground and are good stewards of the ground because we need that for feeding the animals and the public,” he said.

Providing hands-on opportunities and education are the primary objectives, but the center also stands out as a safe place for conversations to take place regarding agriculture and livestock, for example.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with folks,” Wichmann said. “It might be about sows living in crates most of their lives or never getting to go outside.”

Wichmann said he and the volunteers at the center are able to give explanations to those who inquire, adding that it’s also OK to agree to disagree sometimes.

“They might not have ever seen sows fight,” he said. “Living in Minnesota, it’s 20 below in the winter and the moms will freeze their teats and the boars will freeze their testicles and they’ll be no good to us. And in the summer, they get sunburnt and you have to worry about parasites and other pests.”

Wichmann said he is grateful to the Marshall and Minneota FFA members for pitching in to help.

“The FFA kids were great,” he said. “I need them to help the center run. I think they enjoy it, too. They get a lot of learning experience visiting with the public.”

Wichmann said the 4-H numbers may have been down slightly, but that it was typical to have participation “go up and down because of the age of the kids in the families” as well as other factors.

“It takes a lot of parent involvement for 4-H, especially with the younger kids,” he said.

The entertainment and grandstand events were a hit, though less so on the weekend when other area events likely drew attention away from the county fair. Ivanhoe celebrates Polka Kielbasa Days during the same weekend.

“The Lifelight concert was a big positive,” Wichmann said. “It was really well received and people were asking if it as coming back. So we might try to do that again. The Thursday and Friday bands had good turnouts, as did the rodeos and derby.”

Wichmann noted that the farmer’s market on Sunday also had really good attendance.

Now that the fair is done, board members and officials are already looking toward the 2019 event. Wichmann said they’re always looking to make improvements. Rebuilding and improving the website and Facebook page are on the list so far.

“We’ve asked a few people if they had any complaints, but no one has said anything yet,” he said.

“We haven’t heard any negative comments. We’re open to suggestions. We always have something to improve on.”