Zion Lutheran Church’s food stand will be noticeably absent from this year’s Freeborn County Fair.

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

Zion Lutheran Church’s food stand will be noticeably absent from this year’s Freeborn County Fair. When the Rodeo Corral building burned down a week ago it took the church’s traditional sit-down dinner with it, said organizer Alberta Albertson.

Amid the standard fair junk food like foot long hot dogs and cheese curds, Zion Lutheran Church has served chicken, ham and meatloaf dinners, pie and other goodies for more than 40 years, Albertson said. The food stand didn’t fund regular church business, but it has been a staple fund raiser for the church, funding youth programs, missions and church remodeling.

With only a week’s notice and half the food already ordered, church members felt they couldn’t alter the dinner to serve without kitchen facilities, as the fair board suggested, she said.

&uot;They asked if we wanted a tent, but we said no,&uot; she said. &uot;It would be about impossible to do, because we serve full meals.&uot;

If the fair board decides to rebuild the building, Zion Lutheran will be back at the fair next year, but for this year, church members are talking about alternate fund raisers, Albertson said. They are talking about holding another sort of dinner, but it won’t be able to compare with the amount of money generated by feeding a week’s worth of hungry fair goers.