Rice County
1C
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Fair
Faribault Daily News
July 16-21, 2019
Fair fried goodness: Temple Concessions is back with curds and corn dogs
By RENATA ERICKSON rerickson@faribault.com
From working concessions as a kid to flying boxes of cheese curds into the Faribault Municipal Airport in his Cessna 310 1956, Troy Temple has spent decades serving up county fair staples like curds and corn dogs to hundreds of thousands of hungry fairgoers. His family’s Temple Concessions began as a spud wagon, hawking baked potatoes and onion rings at Faribault’s first Heritage Days in 1983 — but the Temple family started with a much sweeter product. Steve Temple, a 1962 Faribault High School graduate and FHS teacher from 1968 to 1991, helped students learn wood shop skills and to weld docks, and build and fly motorized U-control airplanes.
As a teacher, Steve decided to find a summer job with the help of his family. They began by raising honeybees and selling honey at the local farmers market out of the backdoor of their Suburban, but soon tried their hand at the fair — a place Steve was familiar with in his years of selling popcorn and pop as a kid working for Mealey Concessions up and down the old grandstand. In 1982, the Temple family tried Ray Unser’s root beer stand — which Unser started in the 50s — at the Olmsted and Dakota County fairs. While the Temples decided to buy an empty concession trailer instead, Steve Bauer and Jamie Bauer eventually purchased the stand in the late 1980s. Their four children — Carrie Schliep, Betsy Bauer, Steven Bauer and Christopher Bauer — still manage the stand with the help of their children.
The Temples transformed the concession trailer into a spud wagon with an oven and fryer in time for the first Faribault Heritage Days celebration to sell baked potatoes and onion rings. They tried to bake the potatoes in the spud wagon, but the hood design led to a fire behind the fryer. Despite the setback, the Temples were able to quickly fix the issue and have a successful first fair. “We had to knock the wall out, stop the fire, finish the event and then the next year it was redone correctly and we never had a problem after that,” Troy said. “You learn a lot in this business from mistakes and experience.” In 1984, Troy, then 16, helped his father build their
TEMPLE
Continued on page 2C
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Temple Concessions sell cheese curds and corn dogs in 2003 with a stick stand built in 1984 by the Temple family. (Photo courtesy of Troy Temple)
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RICE COUNTY FAIR
PAGE 2C
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Steve Temple, left, and Troy Temple stand in front of Temple Concessions in 2006. What is now a cheese curd and corn dog business, was started as a spud wagon in 1983. It is now owned by Troy Temple. (Photo courtesy of Troy Temple)
TEMPLE
Continued from page 1C first stick stand. Audrey Temple, Steve’s wife, and Tina Temple Erickson’s twin sister, painted the signs. “The stick stand was all made out of wood panels around the sides, two by four corners with a red and white tent above it,” Troy said. Cheese curds were first sold from the new stick stand in 1985. A town north of Rochester first supplied the cheese, but soon Troy wasn’t driving to a new location — he flew. “With my pilots license, I would fly down to Lanesboro because they had a runway that was close by and the Amish would drive the cheese up to the airport, throw it all in the back of the airplane and then I’d fly it home with cheese packed all over in the airplane,” Troy said. When he’d land back in Faribault, Troy Dunn would help him toss boxes out the back of the plane and load the van.
In 1986, corn dogs were added to complete the cheese curds and corn dog menu Temple Concessions is known for today. Shaved ice was also added, but was eventually dropped from the menu just as fries from the early stands were. Troy, who had left his teaching job with Faribault schools to start his video business, purchased the concession stands from his father in 2000. A few years after buying the business, he grew tired of assembling each individual piece to create the stick stand at each county fairs they work each summer. “We took all of the equipment out of the trailer, set it up and built the stand around the equipment every time and when the event was over we took the stick stand down and out the equipment back in the trailer and go to the next spot,” Troy said.
To make the process more efficient, they built their first rolloff stand in 2003, which can be transported by trailer, already assembled and ready to roll off. “We built it all on our own, “I also worked a few shifts at the fair to help out,” said Dunn, now being shop teachers,” Troy said. Rice County sheriff. “Those are “Everything was made out of aluminum. I did all of the welding, good memories.”
every weld joint in every stand, and Dad also helped fabricate how the sides would fold up and down after I designed that. Any stainless steel we needed bent, we had a local fabricator to do the bending of the metal. We’d go down and say ‘these are the exact dimensions, exactly the size’ then they’d bend it up and bring it back and everything slid right into place.” By 2006, Temple Concessions consisted of four roll of stands, all built by the Temples. “We’ve employed a lot of people over the years,” Troy said, “well over 200 people in Faribault over the years and they’re all basically high school and college kids. One thing we’ve always been fortunate with over the years is all of the help we’ve got from the employees. They’ve become friends. Without them we wouldn’t be doing this today.” While finding people to work the stands can prove difficult, just as it is for almost any concession stand, Troy said “the only difficult thing in the concessions business is weather and you can’t control the weather, so you just don’t stress about it. When it rains, people don’t come to the fair and you always hope
Supporting Southern Minnesota Agricultural
Temple Concessions returns to Heritage Days in 1984 after beginning in 1983 as a spud wagon at Faribault’s first Heritage Days. (Photo Courtesy Troy Temple) fresh, straight out of the fryer.” it all balances and averages out of the fair for Troy. But he’s not the only Temple “I do enjoy seeing people by the end of the year and some years have a little more rain than get excited about getting their who enjoys working southern others and we just deal with that. cheese curds — it’s something Minnesota fairs. “I loved it, it was a good I’ve just learned to say ‘well it’s you can’t get all the time, even raining — what else can you though restaurants do them time,” Steve said, “What a life.” do?’” and they’re good at restaurants, Seeing customers enjoy his there’s something about being at food is a particular favorite part the fair and getting cheese curds
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Tuesday, July 16, 2019
RICE COUNTY FAIR
Page 3C
Temple Concessions at the 2018 Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield. The stand will return to Northfield this year and Troy Temple and Steve Temple manage their new cheese curd and corn dog stand in 2006. They built their first roll-off also be at the Rice, Freeborn, Dakota and Steele County Fairs. (Renata Erickson/Faribauilt Daily News) stand in 2003, designing and constructing the stand themselves. (Photo courtesy of Troy Temple)
2018 Fair Photo Gallery | Courtesy of the Rice County Fair Board
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RICE COUNTY FAIR
PAGE 4C
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
2018 Fair Photo Gallery | Courtesy of the Rice County Fair Board
146 Annual TH
Faribault, Minnesota
July 16-21 Daily g in Park
★ Tuesday, July 16th ★ 5:30 pm 7:00 pm 8:15 pm 9:00 pm
Flag raising – near main entrance Rice Co. Fair Ambassador Coronation –Sellner Stage Faribault Community Band – Sellner Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage
★ Wednesday, July 17th ★ 7:30 am 9:15 am Noon 3:00 pm 4:00 pm 5:00 pm 5:00 pm 5:30 pm 6:00 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm 9:00 pm 9:00 pm 9:30 pm
“Best of the Best� Breakfast until 9:00 am “Best of the Best� Awards Program Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Sellner Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Cannon Stage Chocolate Classic Contest - Gillen Hall Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Jolly P’s – Sellner Stage Kids Pedal Tractor Pull – 4-H Plaza Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Sellner Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage
8:00 am 9:30 am 10:00 am 11:00 am 11:30 am 1:00 pm 1:30 pm 1:30 pm 1:30 pm 2:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:30 pm 5:00 pm 6:00 pm 7-10 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm 9:00 pm 9:30 pm
- Daycare Day Lyndon Peterson – Sellner Stage until 11:30 am Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Day Care Program with Brodini – Grandstand Senior Spotlight Meal – Straight River Room Senior Awards Program – Sellner Stage Euchre Tournament – Beer Garden Lyndon Peterson – Sellner Stage until 3:30 pm Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – 4-H Plaza Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Sellner Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage The Whitesidewalls – Sellner Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage
★ Thursday, July 18th ★
$7
★ Friday, July 19th ★ Noon 12:30 pm 1:00 pm 1:30 pm 1:30 pm 3:00 pm 4:00 pm 5:00 pm 5:30 pm 6:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm 9:30 pm
Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Kid’s Day Program – Cannon Stage Charlie Sticha Band – Sellner Stage until 5:00 pm Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament – Beer Garden Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show - Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Sellner Stage Bob & The Beachcombers – Sellner Stage until 9pm Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage
11:00 am 11:30 am 1:00 pm 1:00 pm 2:00 pm 2:30 pm 3:30 pm 4:00 pm 5:00 pm 5:30 pm 6:00 pm 8:30 pm 8:00 pm 9:30 pm
Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Sellner Stage Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage “No Time for Fame� – Sellner Stage until 1:45 pm Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Sellner Stage “No Time for Fame� – Sellner Stage until 3:15 pm Tuey the Juggler – Sellner Stage “No Time for Fame� – Sellner Stage until 4:45 pm Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage Tuey the Juggler – Sellner Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Cannon Stage La Raza de Mexico – Sellner Stage until 12 am Tuey the Juggler – Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage
10:00 am Noon Noon 1:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:00 pm 3:45 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm
★ Saturday, July 20th ★
★ Sunday, July 21st ★
Non-Denominational Church Service – Sellner Stage Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage “Switched at Birth� Band – Sellner Stage until 3:00 pm Open Mike with Electric Fusion – Cannon Stage 4-H Fashion Review – Sellner Stage Brodini Family Comedy/Magic Show – Cannon Stage Daily Prize Drawings – Cannon Stage Parade of Champions – Sellner Stage Grand Prize Drawing – Cannon Stage
2019
For More Info Visit ricecountyfair.net
FR AdmEE Fair issio n!
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Barnes Rodeo THURSDAY JULY 18, 2019 - 7:00 PM
Midwest All Star Wrestling FRIDAY JULY 19, 2019 - 6:30 PM
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