In Leavenworth

I'm in Leavenworth, KS visiting my brother Sam and his family (he's in the military, not the prison). We went to a rib joint for dinner tonight and were reminiscing about going to the fair as kids.  I talked about saving money a little bit at a time for the whole year and also saving some of the Eisenhower silver dollars that Grandma Alice would give us for our birthdays and on holidays. I remember one year we went, Mom pulled out a light jacket for me since it was starting to get cool at night aroud the time of the fair and finding 20 dollars in the jacket pocket. I really felt like a big spender that year. We talked about starting out at the Mexican Village and getting Mexican food, which I loved, and then shopping in the market after that. We also talked about getting our photographs taken and having them put onto buttons that we could wear. I asked Sam if he knew the difference between corn dogs and pronto pups. He didn't. I told him that I had only found out in the last couple years - a pronto pup batter is flour based and a corn dog's batter is corn based. These buttons were probably taken in 1973 and 1974.

Lillian Colton

Following is the obituary for Lillian Colton from the Owatonna, Minnesota People's Press and is dated March 22, 2007. The obituary was written by Jeffrey Jackson.

"Famed Owatonna crop artist Lillian Colton, whose work was displayed prominently at the Minnesota State Fair and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, died Tuesday at her home, her family announced"

"She was 95"

"Colton, who was also a long-time superintendent of the fine arts at the Steele County Free Fair, had gained a national and even international reputation for her work, which used parts of plants, including seeds, stems and other structures, to produce art."

"She first entered her art work in competition at the Minnesota State Fair in 1965. In her second year of competition, she earned a second-place ribbon. In 1973, she won 'Best of Show' for the fair and earned 12 such 'Best of Show' awards from the state fair before retiring from competition in 1982."

"Since that time, she worked for the state fair as a demonstrator of crop art."

"'They put her on the payroll,' said her son Jon Colton of Owatonna."

I took the above photo at the 2011 State Fair. In the picture are a few of the many works of Lillian Colton which were on loan by her family. I've always enjoyed looking at the crop art. I don't know if it's because I'm fascinated that people can sit around and make art out of plants or that it's just kitschy or both.