MILWAUKEE — Wednesday was full of last-minute corn dog dunks and ice cream swirls for the Derynda family, as they geared up to open for their final Wisconsin State Fair.
After 70 years of dishing out fair favorites like their roasted corn, the family is closing up shop and saying goodbye.
An expansion of the Cream Puff Pavilion is forcing the family to shut down Derynda’s Dairy Lane and Adeline’s.
Previous Coverage: Funding approved for Wisconsin State Fair Cream Puff Pavilion renovation (tmj4.com)
The moment is still sinking in for Sam Derynda, who has been working there since she was a kid.
“It's hard, right? It's something that we do every year,” said Sam. “That's just our tradition, and it's what we do.”
For the past seven decades, the Derynda family has been a staple. It serves as a family reunion as members come from as far as Florida to work their three stands for 11 days.
John Derynda has been there since the start. His mother helped launched the stand back in 1955.
“This fair is a unifying effect for everybody in our family, four generations!” exclaimed John.
They've celebrated birthdays, Wisconsin celebrity appearances, and everything in between, but above all, family.
Watch: Why Derynda’s Dairy Lane and Adeline’s is shutting down after seven decades:
Previous Coverage: Dairy stand started in 1955 still a crowd-pleaser at Wisconsin State Fair (tmj4.com)
Over the past seven decades, the family has seen a lot of changes at the fair. They acquired Adeline’s in the 1980s.
John was there for the old motorcycle races, the Midway moving to the north, and Milwaukee Day, where if you took your State Fair entrance stub to your boss, you could get paid for a day’s wages.
Derynda recalls having to wait for a horse with wagon to bring ice boxes, and if they missed it, he’d have to go track it down. It only happened once.
Fast-forward to Wednesday, and it was business as usual as the family made final preparations.
“We’re just preparing the way that we can and preparing the way we do every year,” said Sam.
That means plenty of cleaning and elbow grease.
All of the Derynda's TMJ4 News spoke with said they were grateful to have these experiences with the ones they loved.
“If your family works together and achieves a common goal, they're going to be a close-knit family for many generations to come and that's what I most appreciate about this fair, this family, my three brothers, all the girls,” said John. “Everybody is very close.“
Derynda’s Dairy Lane and Adeline’s are located on Dairy Lane, between Central Park and the Cream Puff Pavilion.
15 family members will be working at their stands this year.
The Wisconsin State Fair runs from August 1-11.
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