Workers clad in yellow safety vests and plastic face shields cheered Thursday morning when the first car rolled up to Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar, on the north end of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
It was the last stop on a meandering one-way drive along streets that should have been filled with hundreds of thousands of pedestrians. Instead, with the 2020 fair shuttered because of COVID-19, the streets were only available to ticketed vehicles on opening day of the first-ever Minnesota State Fair Food Parade.
Guests who were lucky enough to score one of the 19,000 tickets — which sold out in only 2½ hours — have the chance to purchase food from 16 of the fair's most iconic vendors, all without leaving their cars, SUVs and minivans. The event runs three long weekends, through Labor Day.
Sweet Martha herself, Martha Rossini Olson, waved vehicles into spots in two lanes out front, then delivered buckets teeming with four dozen hot chocolate chip cookies (in plastic bags, for safety) to the passenger-side windows.
Dan Mulcahey of Brooklyn Park bought the maximum allowed: six buckets and six milks. On the dashboard of his car was a placard with the number 1; he was the first car in the parade Thursday morning, after arriving at the gate two hours early.
"I thought there'd be a bigger line," he said.
While he didn't stop at every stand along the route, Mulcahey came to stock up on fair treats: Mouth Trap cheese curds, a chocolate shake from the Dairy Goodness Bar, Fresh French Fries and, at last, Sweet Martha's. One of his buckets "will definitely be gone before this afternoon," he said. The rest, he planned to freeze until the next cookie craving struck.
Olson, who co-owns the fair's bestselling food stand, watched the slow and steady trickle of cars driving up to her business. At best, she hopes the stand will bring in 10 to 15% of its usual income, but it's better, she admitted, than nothing.
