Head of the Lakes Fair

[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot visited the Head of the Lakes Fair in Superior and composed this article for the Aug. 8, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper.]

Let me just start out by saying that I think the Head of the Lakes Fair is a friggin’ wonderland. You walk into the place and the first thing you see is a table with the most pathetic crap for sale that you’ll ever find. We’re talking fake flowers with a flashlight inside, used Matchbox cars, Dalmatian-print cowboy hats and battery-operated toy cigarettes that glow at the end. A little farther down, you’ll find your Christian comic books, your black-velvet paintings and your turquoise jewelry. Just beyond that is the corn. This is everything I stand for. It’s beautiful. So, you’ll have to understand how difficult it is for me to ignore all of these temptations when I first get to the place. I’m a professional journalist, and I’m here for you, my people. And you, my people, are looking to be informed, and you’re only really interested in certain information after all. That in mind, I head straight for the beer. And the smash-up derby. (more…)