Woman who hasn't missed Minnesota State Fair in 50 years hosts backyard fair for family
(FOX 9)
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - With the State Fair cancelled amid the pandemic, Minnesotans are still finding ways to enjoy the yearly festival, including bringing part of it to their backyard.
"It's Gizmo's, it’s cheese curds, it's deep-fried fish, it's Dippin' Dots," said Brendan Loughrey.
Sound familiar? It's all the things you'd expect at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, packed into a Brooklyn Park family's backyard.
"This is the Schmidesota State Fair," joked Amy Loughrey.
"The state fair's a big deal and it’s really important to a lot of us and this is a little tiny, tiny piece of the state fair for us," said Brendan Loughrey.
(FOX 9)
The Loughreys aren’t letting a pandemic stop their traditions.
"I’ve never missed a state fair," said Amy. "I’m 50 years old. I’ve been to the state fair, well 50 times. This is the first year I’ve missed it. So we decided that we wanted to have our own state fair."
Soon, her whole family got involved, each running their own booth.
"We really tried to represent everything that was meaningful to us," said Amy.
(FOX 9)
Roasted corn, a beer garden, a "not so" giant slide and even their favorite animals were part of the make-up fair. And there’s some extra meaning this year too after Amy’s mother recently passed away.
"It was kind of her and her parents, my grandparents, that started this tradition so this has also been really healing for us to have this in memory of my mom too," said Amy.
The Loughreys are hoping the real State Fair is back on next summer, but no matter what happens, the Schmidesota State Fair is here to stay.