'Minnesota Nice' helps what's lost get found at the State Fair

Mere hours after the Minnesota State Fair opens, things have already gone missing.

We're not talking butter-head heists. Or blue-ribbon chicken swiping. Just the everyday things the throngs have with them. Blankies. Hearing aids. Passports.

Outside the lost-and-found office on West Dan Patch Avenue, you can't go 15 minutes without seeing a stressed-looking someone in search of their missing car keys, or backpack, or something a woman described as "confidential" and declined to discuss.

John Folta rolled out of the office on an electric wheelchair and explained that the fickle weather had bollixed him up. He'd lost his eyeglasses sometime after he'd swapped them for prescription sunglasses. "When I went to change glasses again, because the weather changed, by god, they were gone."

Folta's odds of recouping his specs are decent.

Blaire Huneke, the fair's marketing and guest services supervisor, said roughly 1,800 items were turned in to lost-and-found last year, about half of which were reunited with their owners. (About 1,300 items were reported lost.) Staff have helped fairgoers find their fanny packs and reclaim their retainers. They've pressed still-plump wallets into grateful hands.

The most commonly lost items, Huneke said, are sunglasses, water bottles, phones, wallets and IDs. After that, it varies, depending on weather. "If we have a really rainy fair, umbrellas will be the top item," she said. "And if we have a really cold fair, it might be sweatshirts."

Sentimental items are among the most lamented, such as a wedding ring or a kid's prize won at the Midway. The most unusual item people turn in is dentures.

When someone brings a found item into the office, staff members catalog it in a database. (If an item contains contact information, they will call.) If someone reports a lost item, staff records that in the database, too, and then looks for a match. To prevent fraud, people claiming items are asked to provide a detailed description of the item and where they think it was lost.

Huneke said people would be surprised how many valuable items honest fairgoers bring to lost-and-found. "People don't think a phone or a wallet would be turned in, but more often than not, we see those things turned in with nothing missing from them. And it just goes to show that there are good people out there, and they want to do the right thing."

Same goes for relatively inconsequential items, like a baby sock. "A lot of people think that if they lost something small, it's not even worth trying to find it. But Minnesota Nice is real and people will turn in a lot of things that they find."

The office remains open for two weeks after the fair is over. Shortly thereafter, remaining items are donated.

Among the items reported lost and never recovered are a lone false tooth and a diamond-and-sapphire bracelet. But the reunions are what keep staff coming back, Huneke said. "They love being able to find that little stuffed animal for the kiddo that lost it."

Lost people

Missing people are the purview of the State Fair police. Chief Ron Knafla said lost kids are one of the top three things officers deal with, aside from acting as walking information booths and responding to medical incidents.

For the "littles," Knafla said, there's a lot at the fair — toy booths, games, rides, animals — that can entice curious kids to wander off. "It really doesn't take much. The parent can turn their head for just a second, and that kid just takes a few steps and they're lost in the crowd."

The sheer number of people, and their height differences, quickly create a "real-life 'Where's Waldo' " situation, Knafla explained.

"You got your pint-sized fairgoers, and they're down below all the adults that are walking around, so all they're all they're looking at is belt lines. And the parents trying to find their kid that just wandered off, all they're seeing is the heads of everybody around them, and they can't see down into the crowd."

Often, frantic parents will reach an officer first, Knafla said. But if a kid is discovered wandering alone, officers will stay in that area with the child and sometimes hoist them up on their shoulders to increase visibility. Most kids are reunited within 5 or 10 minutes. (Knafla's predecessor, Chief Art Blakey, recovered the same child four times in one day before telling Mom: "It's not your day. Why don't you go home?")

Vulnerable adults can go farther than young children and take longer to find, Knafla said. As can preteens and teens who have been allowed to go off on their own and then don't check in. ("They get wrapped up in what they're doing, having a good time, and maybe don't even know that they're lost.") If a search goes beyond 10 or 15 minutes, officers will send a photo of the missing person to all public safety personnel on site.

Knafla recalled one particularly challenging case that involved an older child who hopped on a bus and went home without telling anyone. But in the 36 years he's worked the fair, Knafla has reunited every lost kid. "It's the greatest feeling in the world."

Tips to increase the chance of finding a lost item

1. Tuck a note in your wallet or between your phone and its case with a phone number to contact if found.

2. Make sure your phone's location tracking is on.

3. The most detailed description you can give of a lost item — brand, size, identifying marks — can help staff search for it.

Tips to help reunite with a lost person

1. Take picture of your child the day of the fair to document the clothes they're wearing.

2. Pick up a free identification wristband from the care and assistance office or an information booth.

3. Select a designated meeting spot if your group gets separated and do periodic check-ins by phone or in person.

4. Remind children to seek out public safety personnel, State Fair staff or go to an information booth if they get lost.

5. Use GPS tracking via cellphones, watches, or other devices.

6. If you encounter someone who seems lost, request help from a police officer, other public safety personnel, or fair staff. Stay with the lost person until they're connected to a law enforcement officer.