HOT PURSUIT

As we climb out a deep, dark hole that COVID-19 put us into for nearly 18 months, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon of life getting back to (dare I say this) normal.
In an unprecedented announcement last Tuesday, Steele County Fair officials unveiled that they are hosting a big party at the fair for some very special people. It was unprecedented because, as my friend and long-time Owatonna resident and fair worker Todd Hale said, the fair had never before held a press conference to make such a major announcement.
Heading into the press briefing, Hale, and I’m sure there may have been a few others, feared the worst. He thought maybe the grandstand had been deemed unsafe to use. But instead, it was something extraordinarily positive on how the grandstand will be used to celebrate our front-line heroes from the pandemic since March 2020.
The fair feeds our inner being in a normal year by adding a little excitement and fun to our lives. But this year, it’s going to be the medicine to cure our COVID blues.
With 70% of Steele County residents being vaccinated with the COVID vaccine, the fair is certainly going to be a reason for us to all get out and celebrate. And what better way to do it than having a free concert on the second night of the fair.
Fair officials are coming together with two powerhouse nonprofit organizations, United Way and Community Pathways, to celebrate what appears to be a victory against the worst pandemic to hit in more than a century.
When I asked a couple of fair board members who came up with the idea for the party, they pointed across the table at Wayne Steele, vice president and publicity director for the fair. In his typical humble way, Steele quickly deflected the credit and said, “This is a team effort. It’s all of us working together.”
It certainly has been a struggle for many people over the past year and a half. But, we have survived something that nobody knew we could.
There are many heroes of the pandemic. The obvious ones are the healthcare workers. But it goes beyond them into many other occupations. The fair will be our opportunity to collectively say, “Thank you.”
I believe this year’s fair motto, “Bringing back the fun in 2021,” was actually chosen in 2019 before any pandemic hit. How appropriate it is to have such a theme for this year, months after coming out of a deadly virus that has touched everyone in some way.
This week, we are making an extra effort to give our readers a dose of what it takes to prepare for Minnesota’s largest county fair. We begin our weekly countdown to the fair with special fair coverage. 
Get prepared for going in hot pursuit of bringing back the fun into your life at the fair. It’s only 42 days away.