Dakota City and the Dakota County Fair, 2010

Dakota City, located on the grounds just west of the Dakota County Fair, is a collection of shops, commercial buildings and houses from the early 1900's. Visitors can stroll through Ahlberg Heritage Museum before walking the streets of Dakota Village where they will find a working blacksmith shop, a print shop displaying tools of the trade, a fire hall, a bank, and a general store, just to name a few of the buildings neatly arranged along the streets.
 Dakota City will be open during fair hours (10 A.M. to 9 P.M.) from August 9-August 15. If you're at the fair, you may as well walk over to visit Dakota Village, too. It's like killing two birds with one stone, only there is no bloodshed.

In a small building I call the Display Building, which is just east of the blacksmith shop and south of the print shop, you will find my wife Nancy and me displaying and selling our books about farm kids in 1950, soft animal toys that represent animals from the books, and tee-shirts,and caps with original farm-related artwork.

You won't find this stuff anywhere else. This is the only place where you can get your official HARD COW CAFE or FARMING IS THE AMERICAN DREAM tee shirt and cap.. Stop by to take a look and visit. We will have a couple fans going for your comfort and a chair or two for visitors to sit. No obligation, of course, though I would like to sell you a book, but it costs nothing to browse.

Located just out the back door of our building, the Dakota Tent has room for lots of people to watch various groups performing. I'll be performing some stories from my books at 11:30 A.M. on Tuesday, 5:00 P.M. on Thursday, and 11:30 A.M. on Saturday.  Performances last about 35 minutes so stop in and see the show. It's free.

On Monday I had a little time to set up my equipment for a dry run to see how everything will work in the tent. All went well. now all I can do is hope for a break in the hot weather so folks can sit comfortably and enjoy the show. The shows are for kids and adults so I hope you can stop by.