Sandwich Fair Times 2026final - Flipbook - Page 17
Seventy-Two Years of Good Clean Fun
Written by Jen Beckman
Augie Otto was always
building something. As a boy
he built a radio, then an airplane a few folks still remember riding in. But it was a train
he called the Iron Pony that
stuck, carrying Sandwich Fair
families around the grounds
from 1953-1973.
Somehow, while running an
excavating company and raising three kids, Augie found
the time in 1953 to bring that
train to the Sandwich Fair,
with the strong backing of
the then current Sandwich
Fair Association President
Dutch Hough. The Iron Pony
got its name from a local contest. The ride cost all of ten
cents back when they first
opened. Augie’s wife, Dorothy, was there from the start,
taking tickets and running
the show. As the kids grew
up, sons Allen and Norman
took turns at the controls,
Norman was so tall it was
sometimes a tight squeeze to
fit in the engine, while daughter Carol worked the concessions.
The Iron Pony ran until 1973.
The next year, the Ottos finished the new train, the one
families rode all the way until
last season. That same year
they built the depot that
became such a familiar sight
on the grounds. The Iron Pony
went on to a long life of its
own. The Iron Pony today
lives in the Channel Islands,
still carrying passengers.
engineers for decades, with
a series of trusted assistant
engineers over the years,
among them Steve Farmer,
Paul Andermann, Nate King
and Blake Bushue. What
looked like a few easy loops
around the fair was really a
year-round job. The grounds
had to be kept tidy, the train
kept in good shape, everything ready long before the
gates opened. “Family-run
endeavors are like that,”
Bette says, Allens wife.
There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes that people
never see, and it was just part
of doing what they loved.
to count exactly how many
people rode each day, as they
o昀昀ered so many free rides to
children over the years. What
Bette treasures instead are
the faces. One family from
Streator came every single
Sunday, year a昀琀er year, each
generation climbing aboard
together. “What I loved
most,” she says, “was seeing the people you only saw
one time a year.” She loved
watching her own children
and grandchildren ride, season a昀琀er season. And once, a
young man even proposed to
his sweetheart right there on
the train.
Keeping the train running
was never a one-person job,
and it was never only the
Otto’s. Over seventy-three
years, countless folks lent a
hand to make the train the
memory it became. When
Dorothy passed away in the
spring of 1980, Bette was
asked to step in. When Augie
passed in August of 1994, just
a month before the fair, the
family found a way to run the
train that year all the same.
Norman Otto passed in November of 2025.
A昀琀er seventy-two years,
it’s simply time to let the
train rest. The family has
been through its share of
change, and the time has
come to bring its long run to
a close. Ask Bette how she
hopes folks will remember it,
and her answer is easy: that
they had good, clean fun.
The Ottos were never able
To everyone who ever
climbed aboard, Bette has a
thank you, and a little secret.
“The Ottos,” she says, “had
just as much fun watching
you as you had riding the
train.”
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At the heart of it all were
the two brothers. Norman
and Allen were the train’s
Shake Up Shuf昀氀e
The Shake Up Shu昀昀le, the
fair’s own run and walk, is
back this year for its third goaround, and it has quickly become one of the most cheerful ways to kick o昀昀 fair week.
on the same friendly stretch
of ground. Every finisher earns
a medal, a race shirt, and fittingly, a Shake Up from McKinney’s Concessions waiting at
the finish line.
The event is exactly what
its name promises, a happy shu昀昀le rather than a serious sprint, named for the
ice-cold lemonade Shake Up
that fairgoers line up for every year. Runners and walkers
can choose a 5K or a one-mile
course that winds through
the fairgrounds, and there is a
place in it for everyone. Little
ones get their own five-andunder categories, families
push strollers, and seasoned
runners chase a good time, all
The Shu昀昀le got its start in
2024 as a fresh addition to the
Sandwich Fair’s long list of
traditions. It caught on right
away, the second year sold
out, and organizers have kept
the same welcoming spirit for
2026. This year’s race steps
o昀昀 on the morning of Monday, September 7, with the 5K
starting at 9:00 and the one
mile following at 9:10.
© Nelson Publishing, Inc.
servicenowhomeservices.com
ceeds support DeKalb County nonprofit organizations
through Shake Up Shu昀昀le
grant funding which is awarded and distributed by the
DeKalb County Community
Foundation.
What makes the Shake Up
Shu昀昀le more than a good time
is where the money goes. Pro2026 Sandwich Fair Times
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