The 6 Best Days of Summer

Since the proclaimed 6 best days of summer, being the Albert Lea County Fair, have come and gone I decided to reflect upon the past, present and future. If you are reading this and you have never attended the 6 best days of summer well… I guess your summers have truly been unmemorable. Alright, but in all seriousness each year the community of Albert Lea looks forward to what “we” have deemed as the 6 best days of summer. It may sound like a stretch, trust me I understand, but growing up in a small town without a lot of action (if you will) the fair was actually something to look forward to and also a way to realize that summer was coming to an end. Depressing but let’s continue.

Similar to my love affair post about Albert Lea, the fair sort of falls under the same category of the on again off again boyfriend I reference. IRONIC I keep referencing everything in my life to an on again off again boyfriend when… well… I’m single; but it just makes the most sense to me so... this is a judgement free zone. LET’S CONTINUE!

When I was in elementary and middle school the Albert Lea fair was THE BOMB. Like I said, there was never a ton to do in Albert Lea and the 6 best days of summer allotted 6 whole days, or nights, of having a super good reason to meet up with your friends. I can’t speak for anyone else but I made sure my brothers and I did our back to school clothes shopping before the 6 best days so I could… well… look my best. This stage in the on again off again relationship with the fair was the honeymoon phase. Kids my age couldn’t get enough of the fair and let’s be real our parents loved the kid free nights as well.

Fast forward to high school, now the 6 best days are approaching the rockier part in your relationship. Everyone goes to the fair… every night… but more drama seemed to brew and you walked a fine line factoring in underage drinking before making your appearance. The thing about the Albert Lea fair is you will literally run into every single person you know since birth. If you were engaging in any underage fun beforehand there was a… 100% chance you’d most likely run into your kindergarten teacher. Tricky huh.

Finally, the college years. The fair in Albert Lea is often used as a reconnecting event for all the people who parted ways to attend school to come back and rekindle old flames. Now, drinking at the fair is “cool” because you can finally enter the sacred Beer Gardens as a recent 21-year-old. Relating it back to this boyfriend reference, this was the spot in the relationship when you part ways because you just can’t handle distance but see each other again and all the feelings come back… until you part again.

Last but certainly not least, navigating the fair as an adult. This year was my first time back at the glorious FCF in a while and let me tell you… I made it count. See the thing about the fair as an adult is you still want it to be the 6 best days, or nights, of summer but you need alcohol, and a lot of it, to reach that level of satisfaction. I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere, Gyros, or music from the grand stand but for some reason the Albert Lea fair gets you twisted. I certainly had my fun but suffered greatly the following morning.

Alright, now for my two cents. The thing that I love about the Freeborn County Fair is all the fun reconnecting conversations I have with people who span across my entire life. The memories you share with one another and stories you tell about where you’re currently at in life are all exciting to hear. BUT, there always has to be a but; I don’t understand why more things like that can’t happen without the fair being the focal point. It’s funny to me that the glorious FCF has to be the only organized event that can truly bring our community together. I don’t currently live in Albert Lea so I could be way off but I feel like everyone enjoys themselves at the fair and all the catching up that happens while they attend each night. If more gatherings took place around the city each month or even a few times a year I think that a lot of people would be inclined to attend. For example, we threw my dad a surprise 60th birthday party at a golf course in Albert Lea and happened to hire a street band. The amount of people who showed up to celebrate was insane but made the night 10 times better.

I know you may be thinking I’m all talk and no action or even the fact that I don’t even live in Albert Lea so I could be extremely off base BUT I will say I’m making an effort. I think the more people stop to think about the true reason they attend the fair each year night after night deep down has to be for the people they get to interact with. And a slice of Godfather’s pizza because let’s be real it tastes way better at the fair for some reason. I planned our 2013 5-year high school reunion this coming weekend. I’m hoping this is a step in the right direction of simply getting together to catch up, drink and have a good time because what can be better than that?

iKarli