SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) You can bring guns into the Sioux Empire Fair, but you might want to keep them in the holster.
Fair Security Chief Pete Jaros talked with KSFY-TV about what his people look for.
"Carrying in the holster, we don't necessarily see that as a threat," says Jaros, "but if this guy's carrying a pistol in his hand walking into the main gate, that's something that obviously we would go look at."
By contrast, guns have been completely banned from the Iowa State Fair which opens this weekend.
The Sioux Empire Fair is the biggest or nearly the biggest fair in South Dakota, depending on who you talk to, but just six years ago, there was serious concern the fair might have to be closed.
Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether told KELO Radio's It's Your Business Show with Bill Zortman that the community simply wouldn't let it happen.
"Some people had the guts, they had the wherewithal to say 'no', we're not getting rid of the Sioux Empire Fair," explained the Mayor in his inimitable style, "This is a big deal for Sioux Falls, a big deal for South Dakota. Let's go kick some butt, take some names..."
Fair President Scott Wick says he never goes home for two weeks, stays in a camper on the fairgrounds with his wife, to make sure everything goes like it should.
The fair runs through Sunday at the W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds, just off Interstate 29.