R & M Steel Bench Making its Rounds at the Dodge County Fair

A special bench created by R & M Steel has been seen a different spot each day of the Dodge County Fair in Kasson.

The bench includes pieces of the original entrance sign that was knocked down by a carnival truck in 2007. Ron Papenfus of R & M Steel was approached to rebuild the sign. In a hand-written letter attached to the bench he says, "I decided it was too rusty to fix so I junked it. We rebuilt it all out of stainless steel."

The new gate was installed in 2008 when the fair's slogan was "New Gate in '08." Papenfus was able to save certain cast iron clamps and posts from the original sign and use it to create the bench which was presented to the fair board the following year. He says it sat for avwhile in front of the fair office but this year has been in a different spot each day.

The original welcome sign went up in 1923.