John Abdo’s family has sold ice for half a century. This year, however, he’s found that some people are taken aback when he mentions his business. It’s ice, not ICE.
“Like, frozen water,” he clarifies. “No affiliation.”
I spent Tuesday afternoon following the Abdos, learning how they deliver innumerable cubes throughout the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on human-powered carts. That story is below, along with visuals from Tim Gruber.
Also today, my colleague Talya Minsberg interviews the fair’s butter sculptor and brings us tips from a St. Paul produce expert. Let’s start with some news.
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A history of threats and domestic violence preceded Wednesday’s deadly shooting in Minneapolis. The Star Tribune has the back story.
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Minnesota health care providers say immigrant parents remain reluctant to bring their children in for checkups and procedures. The Reformer details the outcomes.
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The Strib talked to Prince fans who are furious after finding altered sounds in “Timeless,” which was billed as an album of songs as they were originally recorded. Here’s a review in The Current.
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The ICE agent who was arrested in Texas for a January shooting in Minneapolis, Christian Castro, now faces federal charges of lying about the incident. Mr. Castro entered a not guilty plea at Friday’s hearing. My colleague at The Times who has been covering the case notes that it’s rare for the Trump Justice Department to charge an ICE agent — and that prosecutors had pressed for more serious charges.
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The family that ices together …
There’s an art to managing the weight of a cart laden with 500 pounds of ice while maneuvering down ramps and through crowds.
On a typical run at the fairgrounds this week, two teenage boys eased said cart down a loading dock ramp: one braced against the front, the other held the rear. When the cart reached the bottom, the boy in back hopped up and dragged a sneaker on the ground for control as the duo executed a tight turn and rode their momentum toward Underwood Street.
They were headed for the Shrimp Shack, one of about 300 vendors that rely on Gopher State Ice to keep them stocked with ice during the 12-day fair. (It’s $6.50 per 20-pound bag for those with accounts.) Since few motorized vehicles are allowed into the fair during operating hours, that means a lot of cart runs.
Depending on the crowd size and the heat, Gopher State distributes about one full semi trailer of ice every day. Much of it is destined for the drinks sold throughout the grounds.
Paul, John and Corey Abdo, all now in their 40s, have been distributing ice at the fair since they were “in utero,” said their mother, Caryl. It started back in the mid-1970s, when their father, Larry, bought a business that held a State Fair ice contract.
Corey was “on the comm” Tuesday, wearing a cowboy hat as he tabulated orders and palmed a radio handset to keep tabs on their delivery status. Behind him was a whiteboard tracking workers, many listed by nickname: “Bones,” “Big Dog,” “Ricochet.”
The ice runners, who number about 25 over the course of the fair, were all boys and young men. Girls in the family have tended to become “pita princesses” and “bacon babes,” as Caryl put it. (The family also owns the fair’s Big Fat Bacon stand, and used to sell Lebanese Pocket Pies.)
Gopher State’s garage-like base, called the House, serves as a hangout for the runners, with bunks suspended from the wall for naps. On Tuesday, the boys sat around snacking and playing games on their phones, until it was time, again, to roll out.
The carts (custom designed by Larry) are loaded loudly, with bags slammed down to facilitate stable stacking. Rolling through the thick crowds, the ice guys are polite but as relentless as sharks, and move surprisingly quickly. Even fairgoers focused on corn dogs or mini doughnuts tend to see the cart and move.
A sense of wonder can be glimpsed on fairgoers’ faces as the mountain of ice rolls through their midst. At one point on Tuesday, a young girl in a pink princess outfit reached out a hand to touch the freezing bags, as if to confirm that they were real.
After decades of experience, the Abdos know when food and drink stands are likely to be low on ice, and send extra bags to encourage the vendors to stock up. The guys write out receipts by hand, then bring the slips back to be tabulated.
“Good ice guys,” Corey said, “come back with no ice.”
3 QUESTIONS FOR THE FAIR’S BUTTER SCULPTOR
Gerry Kulzer considers himself a celebrity for 12 days a year. During that time, he sits in a rotating refrigerator as hoards of people watch him carve 90-pound hunks of butter into sculpted busts of young women.
The butter-carving tradition at the Minnesota State Fair dates back to 1965. It accompanies a competition, organized by the Midwest Dairy Association, to celebrate so-called dairy princesses across the state. Each year, 10 finalists have their likeness carved into butter. Only one wears the coveted crown as “Princess Kay of the Milky Way.”
Kulzer, an art teacher at Eden Valley-Watkins High School, said he loves his summer gig. Talya spoke to him on the phone:
How did you get this gig?
When I was in college in the early ’90s, I went to the fair and I would watch Linda [Christensen] carve. It was extraordinary. I later contacted Midwest Dairy and said, if she retires, maybe consider me? What I thought was an interview, years later, turned into more of an audition. They gave me 90 pounds of butter and said “there you go, see what you can do.”
The place were you work is kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. How do you survive in there all day?
Being in the butter booth is like working in your fridge at home. Your fingers lose dexterity as they freeze. I wear two layers of gloves, and that’s difficult too; you don’t have as much control with gloves on. It’s so chilly — even when it’s 90 degrees outside — so I look for any hot food for lunch. You can’t go wrong with anything fresh out of the broiler.
Have you done butter sculptures outside of the fair?
It’s surprising how many different weird commissions people ask for. One of the most memorable was when someone wanted a Minnesota loon, life-size, for their Thanksgiving table.
One of the former Princess Kay finalists had their block of butter in the freezer and they were getting married. They wanted a butter head for their future husband, so I got to carve the fiancé. Then they displayed both at the wedding.
OFF HOURS
WORDLE LIVE AT THE FAIR
Here are details on our next fair appearance, and more tips for what to do this weekend.
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Are you a Wordle fan? Join me and my co-host, Shadi Bushra, on Saturday at the Strib booth, when we invite fairgoers to play a live version of the game at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Yes, there will be prizes.
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A collaborative 21-foot artwork in the style of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” commenting on the ICE surge last winter, is the centerpiece of an exhibit now at FindFurnish. Thanks to Sahan Journal, which also documented a “Guernica” remix in State Fair crop art, for this recommendation; subscribe here to their Pathfinder newsletter.
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Southside Back in the Day is an annual community festival anchored in a celebration of South Minneapolis history, including its time as a center for the Black community, its organizer Lisa Crawford told City Cast Twin Cities. This year’s event takes place Saturday at Phelps Park.
THIS WEEK AT THE FARMER’S MARKET
It’s the last weekend of summer. Look for tomatoes. Any tomatoes, really.
“The one thing thriving in this dry summer has been tomatoes,” Lindsay Stauner, the assistant director of the St. Paul Growers Association, told Talya.
She estimates there are some 15 to 20 varieties available across the 20 markets under the association’s umbrella. There are heirloom varieties, plus cherry, slicing, Roma, beefsteak and variegated.
She especially recommends the heirlooms. Look for ones that have yellows and touches of greens and dark maroons. “The most gorgeous produce you can visualize,” she said.
Here’s a tomato vinaigrette salad from NYT Cooking that’s perhaps too easy to even call a recipe. Pair it with a side of sourdough bread (if you are coming from the flagship farmers market in downtown St. Paul, stop at Razava Bread Co. on Grand.)
This is also a good time to collect tomatoes to start canning. They’re easy to preserve, as you don’t need to fuss with pickling or fermenting, Stauner said. This preserved crushed tomatorecipe is a classic.
WEATHER
There’s a heat advisory for the Twin Cities starting today at 1 p.m., with heat index values as high as 97. Temperatures will remain elevated tomorrow. Stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Sunday and Labor Day should be cooler, with possible showers.
OPE! JUST ONE MORE THING
In April, when social media feeds were full of Coachella, Sierra Nicole Reece, a content creator on the East Coast, posted a video saying she was hoping for a sponsored trip to the Minnesota State Fair instead.
Responses flooded in, and Reece got her wish, courtesy of the fair, Explore Minnesota and Visit Saint Paul. I caught up with Reece afterward and asked her why she wanted to come.
“The fair is so unapologetically Minnesotan,” she observed, “and it’s so unapologetically itself.”
Her favorite food stop? Jive Turkey. Overall impression? “Really good vibe,” she said, calling the fair a “really positive monoculture.”
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We will be on holiday, too. See you Wednesday!
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The post The Local: Follow the Ice appeared first on New York Times.
