Wax on, Wax off: Orono Couple 'Hands' Down State Fair Keepsakes

Editor's note: This story originally appeared last August on Lake Minnetonka Patch. The Monahan's will be back at the Great Minnesota Get Together this year.

State fair time means it's the busy season for Lake Minnetonka residents Matt and Val Monahan.

For the last four years the Monahans and their Wax Hand tent have been a popular attraction in Baldwin Park on the east side of the fairgrounds.

"It's always busy," Matt Monahan said. "At peak times it's hard to see in or out of the booth."

Six state fairs throughout the Midwest have invited The Wax Hand to set up shop on their grounds, but the Monahans—proud parents of young twins—say they quickly realized The Great Minnesota Get Together was about as far as they wanted to travel.

"Luckily that first year Minnesota said yes as well, which was what we really wanted in the first place," Matt said. "We'd heard all these stories about how hard it was to get into the state fair, but we put together a great promotional package and everyone said yes."

The Monahans bought The Wax Hand from a friend about four years ago. An artist and musician by trade with a background in marketing, Matt says he sees kids, couples and teenagers coming back year after year to "get dipped."

"It's one of the best deals here at the fair—it's so interactive," said Tracy Naehring, whose two boys, Liam and Kendall, were among the Wax Hand's first customers back in 2004.

They were back again on the opening day of the 2011 fair.

Wax and heat don't exactly mix, so once a hand is complete it can be stored at the tent in a cooler and picked up later in the day.

Hands range in price from $9 for a single uncolored dip to $25 for a multicolored double hand.