Building on a good idea

Four years after debuting The Bacon Box food stand at the Iowa State Fair, Brad Magg and company are expanding. New at Pioneer Hall, Magg and teammate Garrett Ley are debuting The Snack Box and G-Pop’s Candy Box.

“The Snack Box’s signature item will be our famous homemade donuts from Goldie’s that we made during the pandemic. Our donut robots will be on full display behind a large glass window for everyone to watch the donuts being made. In addition we’ll be serving classics like BLT sandwiches, sloppy Joe’s, ham salad sandwiches and my mom’s famous homemade potato salad. We’ll also be shaking up homemade lemonade to order,” Magg said. “Next door at the Candy Box we’re excited to unveil Garrett’s homemade salt water taffy! Flavors include black walnut, blue raspberry, vanilla, orange, pineapple and watermelon. We’ll also have a piece of Jasper County history on display as we make cotton candy in the original cotton candy machine from Robert’s Brothers True Value that used to be across the street from Goldie’s. Our homemade vanilla ice cream from Spring City Pharmacy in Colfax will also be available, along with fresh Iowa grown popcorn.”

After mastering the original food stand, Magg said they started to think of new ideas and put in a request for an additional stand. Last winter, they got a call asking if they would be interested in the spaces inside of Pioneer Hall, the oldest building at the fair. Their original ideas didn’t mesh well with the aesthetic of

the historic building, so they went to work to come up with ideas to make the spaces come to life.

“We’re always brainstorming what the fair is missing and what we think patrons would enjoy but no matter how much research or polling you do, it’s impossible to know what the public will actually want. Keep in mind Barksdale’s Cookies were a bust for the first five to seven years before they became popular so it’s incredibly hard to predict,” Magg said. “I have a problem of making things more complicated than most would. In the case of food at the fair, most vendors buy commercially prepared products and either doctor them up or just serve them as is. Very few make things homemade anymore because it’s so difficult to prepare mass quantities in the small portable spaces. I was raised on homemade, farm fresh food and it’s so fun to see and hear people’s reactions when they enjoy something made like their parents or grandparents used to.”

Magg is going local when preparing his food. The beef used in the sloppy Joe’s is from Calvin Schlosser and processed at the Mingo Locker. Brandhof Farms provides the fresh tomatoes for the BLT and at The Bacon Box the Italian sausage from the newest grinder ball comes from Jasper County native Cristen Slings Clark and her husband Mike.

“I love being able to showcase and work with so much of what Jasper County has to offer,” Magg said.

Preparing for the fair is a feat in itself. It takes a village dedicated to helping the guys who put all of their passion into the projects.

“None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the support this amazing community shows. No matter how crazy my ideas are, or how far in over my head I get, I always have a group of amazing friends and family that make it all look like it’s easy, which it’s not!” Magg said. " My childhood babysitter, preschool teacher, grandparents’ friends, aunts, uncles and friends of every level come together to make it successful.”

So much more than just serving food, making the stands a reality has taken time, planning and a little luck in the form of helpful friends and family. From many miles put in to pick up parts to custom fabrication to keep vintage equipment modern, a host of people have helped to get the stands going.

“Our teammate Tommi’s dad drove to Iowa Falls to pickup parts for the donut machines. When we couldn’t find a suitable piece of equipment for our lemonade shakeups, another Colfax-ian, Joe Steenhoek, fabricated a custom sink-like table that is more perfect than we ever could have imagined,” Magg said. “The wrapper that we use to wrap the taffy is over 100 years old and due to the reality that Ma and Pa candy stores are a thing of the past, they haven’t manufactured the wrappers or parts for them for over 50 years. Garrett’s dad is involved in manufacturing large scale commercial packaging equipment for a living so he’s spent many hours helping keep the taffy wrapper alive and well.”

There is always a feeling that opening a new location is a bit of a gamble. All of the work, time and money aren’t a guarantee that once the stand is open it will bring in enough that was used to put it out.

“The fair isn’t as profitable as most people think it is. There is an enormous amount of overhead that goes into each operation,” Magg said. “Unlike the Bacon Box, our two new locations are permanent structures so we only have the 11 days of the fair to pay the bills for the year. Since the building is state property, the building codes and standards are more rigorous than most. We’ve spent more to build and furnish the two small food stands than it cost when I purchased, remodeled and opened Goldie’s so there’s a lot riding on the upcoming 11 days.”

Not to be outdone by the shiny new locations, the original stand The Bacon Box has been extremely successful and is continuing to garner awards.

“Our new grinder ball at the Bacon Box has made it into the Top 3 for best new fair foods,” Magg said. “It’s an amazing combination of Italian sausage from the Mingo Locker, mixed with marinara sauce and stuffed with mozzarella cheese. It’s then wrapped with two pieces of bacon, rotisserie smoked, served on a stick and dipped in warm marinara sauce.”

Magg will be looking for everyone’s support to help them win best new fair food by voting in the online contest. A link for the contest will be available on the stand’s Facebook page and additional social media and websites when it is available.