Becker County Fair opens Wednesday; tractor parade Saturday morning

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The Becker County Fair kicks-off on Wednesday with its entry day and will run through Saturday, July 29.

Travis Schauer, vice-president of the Becker County Fair Board, said, this year, attendees will need to check out the new bathroom and upgraded facilities at the 4-H kitchen.

“We re-did the 4-H building, there’s new bathrooms in the 4-H building, we re-did the kitchen,” said Schauer. “So we did a whole bunch of new improvements to the kitchen. We poured some concrete in the building. We did a whole bunch of electrical work in our beef barn. So, we’ve done quite a few improvements this year.”

He also said the board has changed some of the times of the livestock shows to avoid the expected heat.

“We moved our livestock shows around a little bit to try an navigate around the heat,” he said. “All the 4-H-ers already know, but, if someone was coming for a specific show, there have been some changes. They may want to contact the fair office or talk with their exhibitor to when to be there to see them show.”

He added that fairgoers will need to plan ahead and stay hydrated if they plan on attending because there really isn’t an air conditioning option on the fairgrounds. He also said they are looking into renting some cooling stations, but haven’t confirmed anything yet.

This will also be a somber occasion for some of the fair organizers, he said, since Becker County Fair Board President Keith Sonnenberg passed away about two months ago.

“We’re missing our president this year and he’s been around here for a long time,” said Schauer. “So everybody’s got a heavy heart around here going through this first year without him. Hopefully, we can do the fair up to his standards.”

One of the highlights of this year’s county fair is the 14th annual tractor parade on Saturday morning.

Tom Mack, an event organizer for the tractor parade, said they had 67 tractors last year, and, this year, with their John Deere theme, he hopes to have even more.

“This year we’re featuring John Deere,” said Mack. “So this year we’ll probably have a lot of John Deere tractors in it. Each year we change the featured tractor … and there is no age as far as how old a tractor is. Just as long as it has rubber tires and can do about 5 miles per hour.”

Anyone interested in joining this year’s Becker County Fair tractor parade can show up to Adkins Equipment, located north of Detroit Lakes on Richwood Road, on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to register and then enjoy a pancake and sausage breakfast with the other tractor drivers.

The parade will then leave Adkins Equipment at 10:30 a.m. and head down Richwood Road before turning west onto Willow Street. The tractors will travel down Willow Street to Rossman Avenue before finally making their entry into the fairgrounds.

Mack said one of the best things about the tractor parade is how it can show the different eras of these large pieces of farm equipment.

“The tractor that I have is a 1947 (tractor) that may dad had,” said Mack. “And they are bringing out tractors that we grew up with … and it’s nice to see some of the old, smaller farm equipment or tractors that you don’t see being used as much today as it was years ago.”

There will be a short awards ceremony for the drivers under the fair’s Big Tent after the tractors arrive at the fairgrounds.