To highlight arts and cultural heritage at the Sherburne County Fair. Funds will be used to create a history book chronicling 125 years of the Sherburne County Fair, improve the lighting in the fine arts display area, and create a butterfly house to educate visitors about the dwindling population of Minnesota's State Butterfly, the Monarch.
To enhance the arts and cultural heritage programming at the Brown County Free Fair by installing a sound system to amplify performances and demonstrations.
Sound system was used for several events which included, but not limited to, two children's puppet shows, Mexican folk dancing, German singers and dancers, Native American singers and dancers, Norwegian dancers and a lefse making demonstration, lace making demonstration, presentation on the MN River preservation and history, and folk singing and fiddle music.
To complete the interior display areas of the historically accurate Forestry Ranger Station. Exhibits will feature the early history of forest fire fighting, an account of forestry activity on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, draft horse logging equipment, lumberjack tools, and a tribute to Paul Bunyon. Additionally, funds will be used for a stage where speakers can tell stories and teach about forestry stewardship.
To offer live performances to enhance the education, preservation, and promotion of Minnesota history and cultural heritage. Live performances at Big Stone County Fair will include a Bluegrass Band, a percussion group showcasing music from around the globe, a magician highlighting the history and heritage of magic, a caricature artist, and a vaudeville-style comedy troupe.
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive insect that has been decimating ash trees throughout the Great Lake states and is currently advancing into Minnesota where it threatens the nearly 1 billion ash trees that occur throughout the state - the second most in any state. Loss of these trees would devastate ecosystems throughout Minnesota and have major economic impacts for the forest products industry as well as through the costs associated with treatment, removal, and replacement of lost trees.
Brown marmorated stink bug is a terrestrial invasive species in Minnesota that was first discovered in 2010 and has been expanding its range since. It is a generalist plant pest that attacks more than 300 species of plants in natural, agricultural, and horticultural settings and is known for its unpleasant odor, large numbers, and propensity for home invasion. Proactive management approaches are available and in development that can be used to slow and potentially control brown marmorated stink bug populations.
To restore several Dakota City building exteriors on the fairgrounds, in collaboration with Dakota City Heritage Village. These local structures that portray a 1900 era rural village include the 1867 Vermillion Presbyterian Church, the belfry of the District 96 one room school, and the 1861 frame structure that was originally built as a school and most recently used as the millinery and dressmaker’s shop.
To provide a space for cultural events and demonstrations at the Northern Minnesota District Fair. By building a performance area and installing a sound system, the fair will have created a dedicated space for history skits, 4-H demonstrations, concerts, and other arts and cultural heritage related programming.
To document and display past and current county history through photographs at the Carver County Fair. Selected photographs will represent a cross-section of topics, people, and places in Carver County.
To remodel an existing commercial building to be established as the Pillager Arts Center. The Pillager Arts Center will be an epicenter for arts education for the community and serve as a space where people can interact with other creative minds.
To update and enhance cultural heritage exhibits at the Cass County Fair. Projects will include brightening display areas, installing speakers, and removing outdated displays to replace with new exhibits of art and cultural artifacts from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa and other pieces relating to regional heritage.
To increase the Steele County Fair's capacity to showcase children's art by purchasing new display materials. Portable wall panels will allow work to be hung in a gallery type fashion, and offer more surface area to display children's art.
To offer hands-on art workshops with local artists. The Clay County Fair will hold hour-long classes with Melissa Kossick and Steve Stark, for both children and adults, on portrait-painting, painting with fingers, pointillism, collage, and local historical drawing. The project is meant to have lasting impact on participants by instilling interest and confidence in order to inspiring them to pursue more art projects on their own.
The goals of the program are to evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices, identify underlying processes that affect water quality, and develop technologies to target critical areas of the landscape. Funded projects provide current and accurate scientific data on the environmental impacts of agricultural practices and help to develop or revise agricultural practices that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining farm profitability.
To offer arts activities that highlight the special attributes of local culture. The Clearwater County Fair will host two workshop sessions of Scandinavian rosemaling, and exhibit the work of two local Native American artists. These two very different cultural events will provide community members the opportunity to learn about cultural differences, similarities, and the rich heritage of the area.
To bring arts and cultural heritage activities to the fair. The fair will provide an arts center where children can work with art instructors on art projects, host a lumberjack show highlighting MN's logging history, and offer canning and food preservation workshops.
To upgrade a portable stage. The Cottonwood County Agricultural Society has purchased a new portable stage that is larger in size and accommodates a greater variety of performers. With this upgrade, the Agricultural Society will be able to accommodate 50-60 uses throughout the year at different venues and help to bring a larger, culturally diverse group to performances.
To offer multi-cultural and multi-generational history and music exhibitions. A lumberjack show will highlight the experience of early settlers, and folk-music and a polka performances will promote intergenerational and intercultural amity.
Paul Bunyan Lumberjack; our area (county) has a lengthy history of timber production and logging. We will bring alive the lore of the mighty logger Paul Bunyan., Just 4 Laffs: Family entertainment consisting of clown comedy Magic Shows, balloon tying artistry, educational games and activities.
We have an old farm house that the Anoka County Historical society uses during the fair to demonstrate what it was like to live in the early 1900's. It is in need of some restoration. The first thing we are going to do is rebuild the entire front porch. That includes floor, railing, painting and possibly needing structural support underneath.
1) We are intending to book a family comedy/magic performance by the name of "Mixed Nuts". They are based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. , 2) We have a One Room School house that is in need of repair and paint. We are intending to use the remaining money from the legacy grant to fulfill the needed attention to this historical attraction at our Becker County Fair.
We plan to add an automatic retractable awning system for the heritage square stage for the comfort of the spectators and performers during afternoon sun. We will have a historical storyteller schooled in cultural and legends of northern Minnesota. The Headwaters Science center will provide hands-on children's activities focused on historical significance of today's modern technology. We will also invite several local crafters to demonstrate their skills and explain the historical significance of their craft.
The demographic for Benton County needs access to quality arts and culture and historical programming. We will utilize our Activity Area and Cottonwood Stage to introduce some art forms to the visitors of our Benton County Fair programming. Our fair has a high attendance and it provides the perfect opportunity to enhance an introduction to arts through our programming and events.
To contract two entertainers for the free stage at the 2023 Big Stone County Fair. Both entertainers are from Minnesota. The first group will be a musical/comedy duo who will play mostly original musical material with comedy and funny stories mixed in with the songs and between songs. The second entertainer is a Native American stand-up comedian who will tell jokes and stories about his life and comment on current events.
1. Pioneer Photography by Doug Ohman - photography of historical and agricultural themes., 2. I Polka Band - old time music from local group., 3. The Coyotes - blue grass music from local group., 4. Church Cabin repair - Replica cabin of 1839 needing new logs and repair.
We are planning to bring several musical groups to the fair that will highlight the cultural heritage of our county. We are rich in German and European culture in our area and will be bringing several polka bands in for afternoon entertainment. We will also be including a chainsaw artist this year and are very excited for the new demonstrations that he will be bringing to the grounds. We will bring a blacksmith to the fair as well for demonstrations, something that we have been working to include at our fair for some time.
We have the following free shows we want to line up for our 2023 fair. These Homeward Bound Theatre shows will provide a fun learning experience for all ages: , , Alfy's World of Robotic Puppets - These versatile characters will bring a wide range of fun and education through agricultural facts, jokes and questions. These puppets are radio-controlled and engage children and families at different parts of the fair, targeting those specific aspects of agriculture.
We will use our Legacy funds to hire Emotion in Motion as one of our fair entertainers. This is a Minnesota-based company that will give fairgoers a chance to paint their own canvases. Emotion in Motion has their own unique techniques to teach those that want to participate in the painting class.
Entertainment for the 2023 fair will (for the 42nd year) include The Johnny Holm Band. This is a Minnesota band and Johnny Holm actually lives in Carver County. This is one of the most well attended events we have during the Carver County Fair.
Church of Cash is true to the music of Johnny Cash. Church of Cash is not a country band, it is a tribute band with the purpose of honoring the indelible legacy of Johnny Cash. The Church of Cash is celebrating the soul of Americana music
The Legacy grant will help us bring arts to our Kids Day for all the youth to enjoy. We will be securing face painters, balloon artists and art classes.
The "old school house" on the fairgrounds provides a look back at how things were once in Clay County. This building houses a large number of historical items from school houses in Clay County. The "old school house" is open to visitors of the Clay County Fair for educating all generations to the culture and heritage of Clay County. Typically, the Clay County Historical Society assists the fair board in providing education through visits to the schoolhouse, spelling bees and geography bees during the fair.
We need updates to the 4-H exhibit building that is owned by the Agricultural Society, but it is used by the 4-H exhibitors to house their projects during the fair. Fine Arts, Crafts, Photography, Woodworking, Clothing and Textiles, and Quilts are just a few of these project areas. This building sustained some water damage to the interior of the building. The problem has been fixed but the interior plywood and insulation needs to be fixed to safely have these projects, exhibitors and fairgoers inside of this building.
We would like to be able to provide fairgoers a fun experience at seeing horses and ranchers work and run different events with their horses. To see how a blacksmith operates and create iron work. Our magician will create a fun experience for all ages to learn more about agriculture.
We would like to have our local blacksmith's guild members give demonstrations throughout the week of our fair in the blacksmith shop located in our Heritage Village on the fairgrounds. We could get many demonstrators to demonstrate the equipment that we have in our heritage village buildings such as spinning, weaving, quilting, and cooking. We also may have an opportunity to have a threshing demonstration by the local machinery men that meet here in Dakota County. We hope to contract a chainsaw artist and/or the Paul Bunyan Live show to have here the week of the fair.
