FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. - The Minnesota State Fair is full of characters. They include many vendors who really love what they do.
One husband and wife team has worked the fair for more than 40 years. This year could be their last.
"Well, I have been around 100 years, but I have been here at the fair for 43 years," joked Yvonne Brown of Yvonne Brown Designs.
She and her husband Dick just celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary on Aug. 27.
"We're always at the fair for our anniversary," Dick said.
But the couple says this year could be their final year opening up shop at the fair.
"From the beginning when they opened up Heritage Square – that was the first venture. I was part of that," Yvonne said.
Her biggest gain in business came in 1996. It also happened to be the same year she lost so much personally.
"My mom who lived to be close to 104 – she was just 2 months short," Yvonne said.
Dick says it's the customers, who they now call friends, who inspire the duo to keep painting. Skates are their favorite canvas.
"Seems like everybody in Minnesota has a pair of skates out in their garages hanging and when they see how they can be decorated and used," Yvonne said. "They bring it to me and I paint it for them and often times they gift it back to the original person who wore the skates. So that's been fun."
Fun for what might be the couple's final fair.
"I want to keep on painting because it's just part of my soul."