photo by Brie Cohen

Tracey Ball nails up a flag in the goat barn at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds while getting the grounds ready for the fair Friday. Ball is the year-round groundskeeper for the fairgrounds.

Getting the grounds ready

Couple prepares for the Freeborn County Fair

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Saturday, August 1, 2009

Albert Leans John and Tracey Ball know a thing or two about getting ready for the Freeborn County Fair.

As the groundskeepers for the Freeborn County Fairgrounds, the Balls have worked behind the scenes year-round for about four years to keep the venue looking clean, favorable and ready for visitors.

“This is an around-the-clock job,” Tracey said. “It’s a lot of cleaning up and setting up.”

Though the grounds and buildings at the fairgrounds are used throughout the year for events such as weddings, rummage sales and animal shows, it’s during the week of the county fair that there’s probably the most action out of any other time of year.

Last year, the fair drew about 100,000 people to Freeborn County.

This year, the Freeborn County Fair begins Tuesday and runs through Sunday.

To keep all of the preparation responsibilities straight, Tracey said she has a to-do list to complete every day. The couple lives with their four young children in the caretaker’s house behind the Freeborn County Historical Village, and often the whole family gets involved.

John is employed full time at Albert Lea Masonry as a brick layer, but he often helps out as well, she said.

“You can’t run this without getting involved,” John said.

Throughout the year and during the week leading up to the fair, Tracey and the other maintenance crew can be seen doing things such as cleaning out buildings and setting up tables, tents and benches.

Tracey said she’s responsible for cleaning up and locking up the Fairlane Building after events throughout the year. She and John also help store boats at the fairgrounds during the fall and winter. John does the snow removal.

She said the preparation for the fair this year hasn’t been as hectic as in year’s past.

Plus, the fair is about a week later this year than it has been in recent years, which has given Tracey and the other workers extra time to get everything ready, she said.

She’s also had the help of eight teenagers through the Minnesota Workforce Center who have been a big assistance, too, she noted.

A few vendors started arriving at the fairgrounds to get set up on Friday, and Tracey said Saturday and today even more vendors will start arriving. She said she wanted to get all of the setting up and major cleaning done before the fairgrounds started getting busier.

This week she and the crew have power-washed and swept out every building, she said.

On Friday, she had scheduled to set up a canopy shade, set up and clear the beer garden, and set up flags in all the buildings and on the poles. She also might do a little painting.

In year’s past, she’s been given a large project to complete right before the fair — such as painting the entire grandstand — but this year she didn’t get one, she noted.

She’s on track for the fair to begin this week.

Though it might seem like a lot of work, she said the best part about her job is “just to see all the fun that goes on here.”

“It’s a kid’s wonderland,” John added. “There isn’t a better place to grow up then here. When it’s not the fair, the kids have 40 acres to play in.

When she’s not working at the fairgrounds, Tracey is also a para-educator at Hawthorne Elementary School.

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