4-H'er plants needed trees at Wadena County fairgrounds
By Carol Stender
cstender@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 08/12/2010 8:37 AM
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WADENA, Minn. — Kate Boyington saw the destruction caused by the June 17 tornado in the Wadena on TV reports.
Her 10-year-old son, Mark, saw an area in need of trees.
Mark was concerned about the Wadena County fairgrounds, which lost 400 of its 403 trees.
Mark loves forestry and plants. He says he has a green thumb and often says oak and maple saplings that grow in his mom's garden and yard in Randall. He's collected young trees for about two years, he said.
With his parent's help, he picked 50 to 60 saplings, wrapped them in wet paper towels and placing them in a plastic bag. Katie told the Wadena County Fair board about Mark's donation.
Mark and Katie along with Mark's father, Mark Sr.; and young sister, Atti, planted the trees on the fairgrounds. Fair sounds surrounded them as they planted several trees near the grandstand and race track.
Mark was diagnosed in January, with Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder. People with Asperger's are sensitive to bright lights and sounds and tend to be withdrawn, Kate said. But he's had a special spark since he made plans to help the Wadena County Fair.
Mark is a 4-H'er and exhibits in nearby Morrison County, he said.
His donation is one of many received since the tornado, said Wadena Fair board member Jeff Nardello. Several counties offered Sentence-to-Serve crews to remove downed trees. Businesses offered heavy equipment and services. The Wadena County 4-H Federation scheduled four work days to clean up debris.
In a mere six weeks they made the grounds, which had been left in shambles, fit for special events, livestock shows and a carnival.
Wadena County Fair volunteer Don "Red Dog" Strayer has been involved with the 4-H program for more than 60 years. After the tornado, he was committed to getting the grounds cleared. Without a fair, 4-H'ers wouldn't be able to enter the state fair, he said.
When he wasn't able to be at the fairgrounds, others took his place. Although the show arena was demolished, the livestock shows continued in a fenced-in arena offered by Trail Hand Livestock Equipment.
Ziegler Rental of Brainerd provided grandstand lights. Normally the full bank of lights would cost $1,800 a day. But, they were free this year. Motley and Perham donated portable bleachers for grandstand events. Tents took the place of destroyed buildings. A rental store in Fargo offered them at half price.
"We've had people say the tents give it more of a 'fair' feel," Strayer said.
The all-school reunion canceled their event, but offered the fair use of laser tag and mechanical bull games the reunion committee had arranged before the storm hit.
"Everything just fell together," Nardello said. "We had plenty of hands."
"We never would've been where we are today without the many volunteers who came to help," Strayer said.
Attendance and fair receipts were up this year, Nardello said.
Decisions concerning the fair including buildings will tbe made at the October fair board meeting,