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Back in June, I asked Summerfest if any of its vendors were selling Confederate flag themed merchandise. Hot on the heels of a backlash toward the flag that resulted in national retailers yanking the symbol, Summerfest said its vendors would not sell anything with the "Stars and Bars."
At the time, I was afraid that it would be a different story with the Wisconsin State Fair, but my concerns have been put to rest: according to Kristi Chuckel, Communications and Marketing Manager, you won’t find any Confederate flag merch at the fair, either.
"We asked our vendors not to sell Confederate flag items at the fair this year, so there should not be any," she told me in an email.
"And indeed, our staff has been on the lookout for any Confederate flag stuff, and we haven’t found a thing. That’s good news."
While the State Fair can’t really control what its patrons wear – and we’ve all seen someone whistling Dixie, mullet a flowin’ – at least officials won’t condone that outmoded, racist symbol on its grounds.
Score one for progress.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
