ABOVE: Martin County Fair Board Vice President Steve Pomerenke stands with one of the new trees planted at the fairgrounds, as several more fan out behind him in the background.

FAIRMONT – Setup for the Martin County Fair is in full swing before opening day on Monday.

One saving grace Martin County Fair Board Vice President Steve Pomerenke said they have is that a previous event has taken care of some setup already.

“We rent the buildings out during the winter for storage,” he said. “We want to have it wide open. Then we have to put these things back in. Setting up sheep pens and putting the fans up in the cattle barn. A lot of that we had done for the MYLE (Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo) when that show was here. Once we got set up for the MYLE, we’re pretty much set up for the fair too, as far as the livestock is concerned.”

The concrete stage is there year-round, but everything on and around it has to be put up manually and takes a village to get together.

“We have to get all the lights, speakers and the whole apparatus set up on the stage,” Pomerenke said. “That takes quite a bit of manpower to get done. They’re coming on Monday to set that up, but that takes everybody on the board there to help put that up.”

One piece that wasn’t set in stone this year was garbage pickup. Previously, Sentence to Serve had partnered with the Fair Board to do this as part of the program. With funding cuts occurring, Pomerenke said it was not known until the August 4 fair board meeting that the partnership would be able to continue.

“That’s the huge part Sentence to Serve does during the fair: picking up the garbage, emptying the garbage cans,” he said. “Until we found out Monday that they were going to be here every day, we thought that was something we as fair board members were going to take care of.”

As for the vendors, Pomerenke said they can divvy up the space based on size needed per vendor.

“A lot of vendors that have been here for a long time have priority for the places where they’ve been,” he said. “There’s a set area that works for most people’s trailer, stand, or whatever they have. Different vendors require different-sized areas, and we accommodate that.”

Getting all of the planning together and laying out what to set up when is a challenge for any fair, especially for one the size of Martin County’s. Pomerenke said the number of members and shared experience they have is crucial to getting all the puzzle pieces fit together.

“We’ve got 15 people on the board,” he said. “One of the things that helps is we’ve got a lot of long-term board members. This year, we have had more turnover than we’ve ever had in the 29 years I’ve been on the board. Three new members this year. We’re all pretty experienced as far as the fair is concerned. We know when things need to be done and how much time it’s going to take.”

One thing they were able to plan for the vendors and fairgoers was tree placement. The 200 ash trees, which provided ample shade to the park, have all been cut down over the past three years due to Emerald Ash Borer. Replacing them is a mixture of tree varieties that have been planted strategically.

“We’ve put those trees in areas where it works with where the different stands are going to go,” Pomerenke said. “It was somewhat that way before, but I think it’s even better now as far as where the trees are located compared to the vendors.”

The fair board could see signs of Emerald Ash Borer three years ago, and knew that it would get progressively worse if they didn’t cut them down. The 15 largest ones were taken down by professionals, and another 85 were removed by Nutrien two years ago. The remaining 100 Pomerenke cut down and removed himself using a chainsaw and a skid loader.

“Luckily, most of these trees were in an area where it was fairly open,” he said. “I didn’t have to worry about hitting a building or something like that.”

While there haven’t been any major complaints, Pomerenke said he knows the lack of shade present now is not an ideal situation.

“We don’t like it either, but you don’t have a choice,” he said. “Especially if it’s Emerald Ash Borer, those trees get brittle and you can start losing a lot of big branches. It gets to be a hazard.”

Looking over all the hard work and dedication it takes from everyone involved to make the Martin County Fair possible, Pomerenke said they strive to make it as unique and special as possible.

*Editor’s Note: This article ran in the Sentinel’s 2025 fair preview section.