County fair a big part of Marilyn Lermon’s life

Marilyn Lermon lived on a farm near Stacyville and St. Ansgar, Iowa with one brother and two sisters. Her brother lives in Burnsville, a sister in Faribault and her oldest sister still runs the grocery store in Stacyville and makes brats using an old family recipe.
There was one field between their farm and the Minnesota border so she could see Minnesota from their farm, she said.
Marilyn went to school in Stacyville and said when her older sister was in high school, they had girls’ basketball but it was dropped by the time when she was in high school and only cheerleading was available for girls.
The Stacyville school has now been combined with St. Ansgar and only the gym remains as it is used for community events. She was very involved with 4-H starting at age 10 and worked especially with the poultry project. She really knew her chickens as she was a member on the first place Iowa State Fair judging team, and also was the top individual in the contest. She was one of two representatives from Iowa at the National Poultry Fact-Finding Conference held in Kansas City.
She was also honored, at age 16, to represent her county at the Chicago Livestock Exchange.
Marilyn enrolled in the LPN program at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester for the one-year program and the students lived above the laundry area with class sizes of 45 students. She then worked for three years on a surgical floor at the hospital. Marilyn worked in different areas at Mayo Clinic for nearly 35 years and retired in 2001 from Mayo.
One of the things she mentioned was the unit she worked on had nine nurses and the staff was really like one big family, and they would help each other. They still will get together at times today, she said.
She then started as a part-time school nurse at the KM schools and was there for eight years. She would listen to kids tell why they needed to go home from school, but after working with the pediatric program for years she could tell who was being honest and truthful with their stories. During this time she also was diagnosed with cancer so she appreciated the students showing compassion to her after chemo and radiation sessions, and the side effects of hair loss and being very tired from the treatments. She was finally able to ring the bell after her last treatment session at Mayo!
Marilyn said they needed to go to St. Paul to take their LPN state board exams to be licensed and they stayed an extra day since they had some high school friends there. 
Her nursing class had planned to celebrate at the Pla-Mor Ballroom in Rochester on Friday night after finishing the board exams. When they were coming back on the bus to Rochester her friend complained that since they didn’t have dates they might not be able to go and it was a Valentine’s Day dance. When they called the ballroom, the lady said you don’t need a date so come on over and perhaps you will find your sweetheart.
They took a taxi to the ballroom and that night she met Bob, from West Concord, who had just been discharged from the Navy. They were married in 1965 and lived in Rochester for a time. They moved to the Dodge Center area in 1971 and in 1978 to Mantorville.
Marilyn got her start in the Dodge County 4-H program when she and Pat Pogalz started the DC Ducks 4-H club with nine charter members in 1975 and her three children were all eventually involved with the program.
Marilyn became Superintendent of Food at the county fair taking over for a long-time member Arlis McMartin, and she joined the Dodge County Agriculture and Mechanical Society (fair board) in 1996. The board meets monthly throughout the year and elects the officers in November. She has been an officer all but three years and has been the board president for 10 years.
Being a member of the fair board is really a year around job as deadlines need to be met for grandstand and entertainment programs, lining up food vendors, commercial booth participants, getting the premium book ready plus many other areas. She said the fair board members divide up the workload of duties very well which really helps a lot. Right now, Marilyn is at the fair office several times each week getting the necessary preparation tasks done for the upcoming fair to be held July 14 – 18.
Some of the highlights during her time at the fair has been the 9/11 exhibit that attracted large crowds to view the exhibit that year. Riding on the big wagon pulled by the famous Clydesdale eight-horse hitch through the fairgrounds was a great experience at the 150th Dodge County Fair. President Larry Shaffer had arranged this and gave her a big surprise, she said.
They have had to keep the stone entrance closed as trucks try to enter this entrance and caused some damage. Several years before that a semi attempted to exit through the stone entrance and damaged the sign over the arch so it had to be taken down during the fair due to safety issues. The damaged overhead metal sign was later replaced by R & M Steel from Dodge Center.
Dodge County’s fair is the oldest county fair in Minnesota and this year will be the 164th fair. The first fair was held in Mantorville in 1857 which was before Minnesota officially became a state a year later. The fair was canceled in 1946 because of the polio epidemic and in 2020 due to COVID19 as was the Minnesota State Fair in those years.
Marilyn says she enjoys quilting and bought a quilting machine when she retired. Her mother also made quilts.
For five years Bob and Marilyn would take part in Kansas City BBQ Society competitions at communities in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. When their children were young, they would go up north to camp and fish. Marilyn is also part of the Mantorville Senior Center board.
After they retired, Bob and Marilyn started going to Yuma, Ariz. area for part of the winter and since Bob passed in 2013 she still goes to that area for about three months in the winter.
She has three married daughters. Marina and Jennifer both live in the KM area and Michelle lives in Bridgewater, Mass. She has four grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.
Marilyn has been selected for the Dodge County Fair Hall of Fame for 2021 and will be honored at the Sunday afternoon program. Marilyn is a firm believer in the 4-H program as it brings out leadership, responsibility and many life skills for our youth. Marilyn has been a real asset for our county working with our fair all these years.