The long-running fair stand known for its minute steaks and friendly smiles has a new look.

The people of St. John’s Sauers Lutheran Church decided it was time for a makeover when the 73-year-old building started to show some serious wear and tear.

“We just wanted to modernize it,” churchgoer Joy Stuckwisch said.

The plumbing, the fryers and everything were just old, Pat Rieckers said.

Karla Rieckers, who has worked at the fair stand for many years, said they did away with the long benches that wrapped around the food stand for a few reasons.

“If you are there waiting on somebody, they can sit there however long they want, which made it hard to get around people and serve new customers that were coming up to the counter,” she said. “It was also hard for people to get in and out of the benches.”

Karla believes the food stand was built by Ratcliff Grove Christian Church in 1950 and then purchased by St. John’s Sauers Lutheran Church in 1952, which is believed to be its first year of serving food at the fair stand.

In 1977, they made some additions and improvements to the equipment in the stand. Then in August 2022, they tore down the building.

“It came to a point where it just wasn’t big enough,” Pat said. “Our old kitchen was 12 feet wide and 12 feet long where we fried.”

With the construction of a new building and the purchase of new equipment, the Sauers food stand’s cooking capacity has almost doubled, going from one griddle and four fryers to two griddles and six fryers.

“Hopefully with this upgrade, we will get more people in and get more food out the door,” Pat said.

After replacing the 30-year-old equipment, Stuckwisch said she is really excited to try out all of the new equipment this summer.

The Sauers fair stand saved profits from the last two years and has welcomed many donations, from monetary to items for the food stand.

Along with a grant from the Jackson County Visitor Center, the current budget for the construction of the new fair stand is $200,000, and with help from the community, there is no need to take out a loan.

“People who have attended our school or church have been very generous with donations,” Karla said.

Being one of the more popular food stands at the Jackson County Fair, Pat said it took a lot of people to help accomplish this new build and to make sure everything is running smoothly.

“This is our biggest annual fundraiser that goes to fund repairs for the church and school as well as any other needs we have,” he said.

In a single day, the fair stand has a total of 30 to 40 workers split into shifts working the fair stand as well as women who prepare the minute steaks and potato salad at the school to transport.

Karla said they keep track of everything through schedules and spreadsheets, which is something they have done for years.

“Our dinners attract people, but it really depends on the day, weather and attractions in the grandstand,” she said.

Pat said he believes they sold around 4,000 cheeseburgers during the entire fair week.

“The merry-go-round sits right across from the fair stand, so it’s a good location for families to grab dinner close by,” he said.

The menu will still be the same except for the addition of roasted chicken two days out of the week.

As the fair stand takes on new beginnings, Karla said there is one memory in the old fair stand that she will never forget.

“Last year on a Sunday night while we were closing, the electricity went out, so we finished cleaning up in the dark and took a selfie,” she said.

Stuckwisch said the fair booth has always been an important aspect of their church as they share the message and serve the community together as a congregation.

“Our kids have grown up here, and we are a very interactive group of people,” Karla said. “Some of the new members of our church have said, ‘I didn’t really get to know anybody until I worked in the fair stand.’ You make connections here.”

Pat said it’s always nice to see people he normally only sees once a year and catch up on life.

“We have a strong camaraderie here, and I would say most people that work at the fair stand would say they enjoy it and have fun,” he said.

Karla said without the help from Royalty Companies, Cooper Concrete, Foster Brothers, Schneider Plumbing, Heating & Air, Kyle Stuckwisch and Tom Barker with Royalty Companies, this project wouldn’t be possible.

The church planned to have a dedication of the new fair stand on July 9, and afterwards, the staff members were going to do a trial run of the new equipment.

“We are ready to show off our building to everybody in the community and feed the excitement,” Karla said.