As a kid I got very excited about the Fair. It was almost a magical place. Mom gave me $20 and I thought I was rich. The Zipper was actually fun back then, as was that spinny thing that sucks you against the wall with centrifugal force while you lay on the vertical built-in gurney. How appropriate.

But in high school, we were constantly disappointed by the experience and for a few years lost the drive to return. The Fair had lost its luster to me. But then again, I think everything about your hometown loses its luster when you’re 18. In hindsight, I think to some degree that’s because the Fair had actually lost its luster to many. It was losing money ... and perhaps its focus.

Through the past couple of Fair managers’ tenures, those of Paula Wolfe and Shannon Lundgren, things have really turned around. For a few years now, revenues have been up along with attention to detail. Facilities are cleaner or even brand-new, grounds are landscaped and the entertainment well planned. I, for one, like the Fair again. It started to be fun again when I returned home from college and was pouring beer there as a Jaycee. Jaycees used to pour beer there but we gave 70 percent of gross profits back to the Fair, during those days when it was losing a lot of money. I guess when you have to pay for all the beer out of your remaining 30 percent, it’s not hard to understand why the Jaycees bailed on that gig. But the Fair remained fun. No more free beers, but no more working either! I guess the fair isn’t the only thing that changed.

The exhibits that used to be interesting to my dad were now interesting to me. The concerts seemed more attractive and of course the beer garden was finally an option socially. With age, it was the Midway that no longed held the draw for a trip to the Fair, but all the stuff at the west end of the grounds.

Speaking of a draw, why is it that lemonade and corn dogs taste so much better at the Fair than anywhere else? I believe it’s possible that the Y Men’s lemonade is the greatest lemonade anywhere. And I’ve been in there volunteering to make it in years past. There’s no secret. It’s the simplest thing ever, but for some reason, it’s heavenly. And what is it with funnel cakes that everyone gets excited about them? For three bites, it’s deep fried magic, but then a few minutes after polishing off the whole thing the inevitable dread of lead gut sets in. My advice ... funnel cakes are best enjoyed behind plexiglas, under heat lamps, where they belong.

I’m not a huge racing fan, but every time I am at the Fair and catch part of the races I am always taken aback by how ridiculously fast they’re going. “On the edge of out of control” is well defined with a visit to the track. Stick some lemon wedges from your first lemonade in your ears and take a seat in the grandstands. So you’re wondering, do I have a point I’m getting to or am I just rambling again? My point is, if you too pulled a Peter Pan and got old and lost your love for the Fair, it might be time to rediscover it. Introduce a new generation to the magic of the Fair, or discover for yourself all of the amenities that you were once too young to appreciate or never found before. Dubuque has one of the finest County Fairs around in a time when the county fair is a dying breed. There is something there for you, I promise. And if you don’t have a lemonade from the Y Men’s stand, it’s your own damn fault.