Saturday, July 20, 2013

Vendors Offer Relief From the Heat at County Fairs
from: kcautv.com
By Claire DeRoin
Jul 19, 2013



The Dakota Thurston County Fair is in full swing, but so are the high summer temperatures. Temperatures have been soaring into the 90's, but that didn't stop folks from stopping by the fair to enjoy themselves. Fairgoers did need a little help staying cool, and help came from folks like Craig Swansen of Yankton, South Dakota. He's the owner of Craig's Shave Ice, and he knows his stuff.
"I've been doing this since I was 12 years old," he said between making snow cones. "My parents helped me get started. I've been doing it ever since. I couldn't imagine not doing this in the summertime."
For the past 18 years, Craig has helped people cool off at county fairs.
"Shave ice: it's a little bit different. Not anyone can get that just anywhere. You know, who doesn't like ice with sugar water on it?" Craig laughed.
Craig says in his years of working at fairs, the menu has stayed the same. After all, if it's not broken, why fix it?
On particularly hot days, vendors don't sell that much hot food, but the cold drinks and treats are a hit.
"Snow cones and ice cream are big movers," said Steve Mrsny, owner of Heartland Concessions.
For the lucky folks inside the vendor stands, staying cool doesn't take much effort.
Neil Junkin explained, "Our trailer is air conditioned, and when you work around a lot of ice products, you stay nice and cool."
A lot of fairgoers said they'd still get their favorite cool treats even if the temperatures weren't so extreme. After all, a snow cone at a fair is a must.

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