Purple bags still all the rage
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Michael Ewen, Videographer
PHOTO SLIDE SHOW: More than 60,000 bags were handed out in the St. Thomas fair tradition.
The Minnesota State fair is known for showcasing agriculture, wildlife, and tasting all of the unusual foods on a stick. But the University of St. Thomas has its own tradition that fairgoers look forward to year after year.
Over the past decade, St. Thomas has handed out the trademark purple tote bags.
“We’ve handed out bandanas and sports kind of things, but the bags are the hits so we keep handing them out,” said University Relations editor Patty Petersen.
The demand was so high that the faculty set up three handout times throughout the day. But this didn’t keep fair attendees from forming a line that stretched well outside of the doors of the education building to get their free bag. Once all the bags were handed out for a specific shift, they could be seen across the fairgrounds as people filled them with their collections at the fair.
The bags’ uses do not end at the great Minnesota get-together. Some fairgoers say they use them as reusable grocery bags in their efforts to go green. Other people have international use for their purple bags.
“We’re collecting them for a friend who is sending them to Africa to be used by nurses in the field,” said Jim Keeler from St. Paul.
Though the popular bags are useful, they still saw the effects of the economy. Petersen said that there were fewer bags at the fair this year to save money. “We cut back by 40,000 [bags], so we have 60,000 this year instead of 100,000,” she said.
No matter how many bags they have to hand out, the University of St. Thomas will always be represented at the state fair, spreading Tommie pride one bag at a time.
Zach Pagano can be reached at paga7147@stthomas.edu.
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Glad I finally got to see the story. Very nice work gentleman
Those bags are the best! Awesome story.
I love the lady who says “are they ALWAYS purple?” haha.
Great work!
Great Job Zach! Amazing footage and comments!
My mom paid someone $10 for a UST bag!
I have 3 bags sitting in my room right now! Great writing in this story by the way.
I saw those bags all over the fair. Guess I’ll have to wait until next year to get mine.
I LOVE THOSE BAGS!!!!
Congratulations TommieMedia staff, the website looks great.
I don’t know if you remember me, but you interviewed my daughter at the fair. I don’t think we made it into the final product, but it looks great! You’re a natural.
The Tommie paw print bag is my all time favorite. Wonderful story guys!
Zakaroo Your doing great keep up the good work.
loved your story zach! you’re doing awesome work…keep it up!
Interesting story, Zack. How can I get a TommiBag? I’d love to have one to take to the grocery story (here in Pittsburgh) for my groceries.
The bags are handed out every year at the state fair, so you might need to wait until then.
Pagano, you’re my boy. Keep the stories coming.