1. Administration Building 2. Education Building 3. Bingo Tent 4. Carver County Hist. Soc. Log Bldg. 5. 4-H Building 6. Horse Barn 7. Dairy and Beef Barn 8. Grandstand Concessions 9. Llama and Goat Barns 10. FFA Children’s Barnyard 11. 4-H Sheep 12. Poultry Barn 13. Rabbit Building 14. Carver County Building 15. Chamber of Commerce Building 16. Entertainment Center 17. Commerical Building 18. Ozzie’s Corner 19. Cheese Curds-Lions Club 20. French Fry Stand 21. Ostrich Producers 22. Pork Producers 23. American Dairy Assoc. Concessions 24. Restrooms 25. Patio 26. 4-H Food Stand 27. Agriculture Building

There are folks who literally pack up their bags, lock the doors and head for the hills when it comes time for the Carver County Fair.

They don’t like the smells, the noise, the lights or the traffic snarls it creates in this normally peaceful western Carver County city of 10,000.

For 51 weeks out of the year, the fairgrounds is a relatively quiet neck of the neighborhood along Burandt Blvd. There is the occasional Saturday morning soccer game, perhaps a dog show and a handful of horse shows during the course of a year. But this week, that quiet parcel of property becomes a bustling city that will welcome an estimated 80,000 people to the heart of Waconia in five of the most energetic days that this community hosts.

Rev. John Wallace is not one who will turn and head the other way. He, like thousands of others, has eagerly been awaiting the arrival of the fair and everything it offers (see Good News column this week).

Wallace is a self-proclaimed fair fan. “I’m not a groupie or anything like that, but what I love about the fair is it gives us all a place to gather. You can catch up with people you haven’t seen for a long time. You can people watch.

“For my wife and I it’s a place where we can go and have a corn dog, a pork burger, walk through the barns and see the animals and look at all the exhibits.”

Wallace said given the tight economy, the fair should do well this year because it brings down-home entertainment right to the doorstep of every resident of the county. “I feel like a promoter of the fair, but really it’s such a good thing for the community.”

Wallace admits he’s had a soft spot for fairs for years, even when he did not live here. Going back to his days in Winona County, Wallace, a Moravian minister, said he made it a point to attend the fair there every year. “I’ve even called bingo for the Catholics when they needed some extra help,” he laughed.

But more than anything, he sees the fair as the great melting pot for the county. “This is who we are. It’s not a place where people pretend to be somebody else. It’s who we are.”

Dora Wagener has lived right across the street from the fair for more than 35 years. She’s seen more mini donuts, milk shakes and 4-H displays than most people will experience in a lifetime. And after more than three decades being right across the street, she says it’s part of summer life in Carver County. “I’m used to it after this many years,” she laughed.

Although there was a time when she said she’d try and escape, she’s learned to appreciate what’s going on across the street.

“We used to go to our cabin during the week of the fair, but we haven’t done that for a long time.”

Now, she said the bright lights, the sounds and the constant movement of traffic coming in and out of the north gate, directly across from her home, does not bother her at all. In fact, she enjoys it. “It gives me a chance to get out with my grand kids,” she said.

That’s probably good news for fair organizers because with gas prices tipping in at $3.60 per gallon, there may be more people than ever hoping to squeeze in a few more days of fun closer to home.

The fair runs Aug. 6-10. And there is no limit on corn dogs.