Hennepin County Fair teaches kids about agriculture

Connie and Bunky Boger pride themselves on their ability to teach about agriculture with their traveling petting farm.

The Hennepin County Fair, Minnesota's first county fair of the summer, was fertile ground for their mission last week.

"This is where your milk comes from. It doesn't come from Wal-Mart," Connie explained as she helped 3 1/2-year-old Pryce Toyne milk a cow the "old-fashioned way."

Connie explained to a small crowd of eager children and their parents that a cow must have a baby before she can give milk; that a cow's milk is warm because cows are mammals; and that nowadays most cows are milked with a vacuum pump.

Every child was given a chance to milk Sally, the gentle Holstein that was part of the educational exhibit.

"Our purpose is to explain to people about agriculture," Connie said. "You have got to educate them without them knowing you're educating them."

The Hennepin County Fair, one of the oldest county fairs in the state, has been around for more than a century and has been based at Corcoran Lion's Park for the past 26 years.

"We are such an urban county, we want to make sure that children understand the importance of farming and animal care," fair First Vice President Gail Johnson said.

In fact, many of the activities were designed to gently trick young fairgoers into learning about agriculture while having some family fun.

The agricultural magic show "Agricadabra" entertained and educated at the same time.

"If the kids are having fun, they retain more stuff," educational specialist Brad Matchett said.

This year, Matchett's second at the Hennepin County Fair, he performed "The Science of Agriculture." "We make it really, really fun," he said. "They leave and they don't even know they learned it."

"Every county fair is different," director Sharon Wessel said. "They have their own personality in a sense." The Hennepin County Fair's personality, everyone seems to agree, is all about family.

"Kids and family," fair directors Deb Bowerman, Johnson, and Wessel said simultaneously. What they meant was evident in every corner of the fairgrounds.

Young families made up the largest demographic at the fair. Kids were everywhere: In strollers, in wagons, eating cotton candy, begging their parents to let them feed the farm animals.

The fair's small size in a park setting gives the event an intimate feel, especially when compared with its much bigger brother, the Minnesota State Fair. The Hennepin Fair draws about 16,000 people compared to the nearly 1.8 million who attended the State Fair last year.

"It's a smaller atmosphere, which is nice," said Karie Lake as her three children, all under age 8, explored the petting farm.

"We really gear all our activities [to] keeping young families in mind so they can make it a family tradition," Johnson said.