Ye Old Memories at State Fair
Fair favorite Ye Old Mill has been in the Keenan family for 97 years
by John Gessner
Dakota County Tribune
Members of the Keenan clan gathered at the family-owned Ye Old Mill on Sept. 3 included John Keenan Sr., back, and from left, Braeden Keenan, Marna Keenan, Reilly Keenan and Jeremy Keenan. - Photo by John Gessner
After the heat and humidity that opened the State Fair, Marna Keenan could hardly believe the change in the air on Friday, Sept. 3.
Chill winds gusting across the fairgrounds threatened to topple a canopy over the small patio behind Ye Old Mill. The patio is where members of the Keenan clan, which has owned the fair’s longest-running attraction since 1913, take a break from their day’s work.
“Last year we had perfect weather every day,” Marna said, bundled up in a warm jacket and jeans. “Never will it happen again.”
But fairgoers can always count on Ye Old Mill, thanks to John H. and Marna Keenan of Burnsville, who own Ye Old Mill Amusements Inc.
The gentle, four-minute ride in miniature boats through Ye Old Mill’s water-filled concrete channel has become an iconic experience for generations of fairgoers – some of whom, it is claimed, stole a first kiss or even proposed marriage in the pitch-black tunnel.
Numerous fairgoers have urged him to never change a thing about the “tunnel of love,” said John, 68.
It’s housed in the same wooden building his grandfather, also named John H. Keenan, opened at the Minnesota State Fair 97 years ago.
The motor that powers the ride is an original, too – a 40-horse, General Electric-Westinghouse electric engine whose longevity is at least partially explained by the fact that it operates only 12 days a year.
“We’ll keep it just as traditional as the day grandfather bought it,” said Marna, John’s wife of 47 years.
John Keenan’s grandfather lived in Philadelphia, where he owned a string of vaudeville theaters there in the early 1900s.
With the advent of talking pictures, he predicted the end of vaudeville and sought out other entertainment ventures.
His son, John Jr., went to work for the Philadelphia Toboggan Co., a manufacturer of carnival rides. Working with the company, the Keenans developed the first Ye Old Mill and began setting up shop across the land.
The Keenans built Ye Old Mills in Minnesota; Des Moines, Iowa; Hutchinson, Kan.; Topeka, Kan.; Little Rock, Ark.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Shreveport, La.
John H. Keenan’s father, James, bought the family business in the 1940s. By the time John took over in 1967, Ye Old Mills remained only at the Minnesota and Iowa state fairgrounds. John sold the Iowa property in 1972.
For 35 years he worked for PDQ stores while he and Marna raised four sons.
“I worked, and then I’d come over here in the evenings,” said John, who also hired workers to perform annual maintenance of Ye Old Mill during the pre-fair months.
As his sons – Jim of Savage, Jeremy of Mesa, Ariz., John Jr. of Gilbert, Ariz. and Joe of Los Angeles – grew up, they found themselves with ready-made summer jobs.
“I always thought I’d give them money for college anyway, but they worked hard for it,” John said.
The sons always return for the fair, this year with five of John and Marna’s seven grandchildren in tow.
Having retired from PDQ several years ago, John puts in more time at Ye Old Mill, with help in recent summers from a trio of Burnsville college students: David Meyer, Tony Glass and Jeff Litchke.
“It used to be I’d have to train somebody every summer,” John said. “These guys, I’d give ’em a list, and they’d get ’er done.”
Ye Old Mill’s electric engine powers a system of gears, chains and clutches that propels the boats along tracks into and out of the stream. The engine also powers the large, yellow paddlewheel that creates the current that carries the boats through blackness interrupted only by intermittent set pieces in the walls.
“I think it’s the darkness,” John said, describing the ride’s timeless appeal. “There’s nothing that jumps out and scares them. We kind of gear the scenes toward kids.”
It’s been entertaining enough for the likes of Sonny and Cher (who visited when they performed at the fair grandstand long ago), Janet Jackson (who came through with record producer Jimmy Jam, a Ye Old Mill fan), ex-Timberwolf Kevin Garnett, Garrison Keillor, Minnesota musician Martin Zellar and – by the family’s count – every governor for decades except Jesse Ventura and Tim Pawlenty.
“Rudy Perpich loved it,” Marna said. “He’d come every year.”
Last year a man proposed marriage in Ye Old Mill, John said. This year, one of the riders was a 92-year-old woman, Marna said.
Fairgoers “come up to the window and say stuff like, ‘My parents brought me here when I was a kid, and now I have my three grandkids,’ ” John said. “We hear all kinds of those things from people – especially on Senior Citizens Day. They’ll stand outside. They may not ride, but you can tell they’re reminiscing.”
John Gessner is at
john.gessner@ecm-inc.com.
