As Kingdom of Callaway County Fair attendees traipse around the fairgrounds this week eating corn dogs, riding the Tilt-a-Whirl, watching bull rides and walking through the red barn to see the decorated cakes and prize vegetables, few of them will give any thought to the time that goes into making sure everything is ready to go.
That time includes hundreds of hours invested behind the scenes over the past 20-odd years by Pat and Carl "Butch" Brauner. The Brauners have been taking care of the fair grounds and the 4-H barn since the mid-80s (neither of them is clear on exactly when they started), working from early June through the end of the fair to get the property ready for the crowds that descend upon them the first week of August each year.