Smoking Surveyed At Fair

Miller is leading a community campaign aimed in part at reducing smoking. The SHIP program includes interventions in parks, recreational facilities and fairs across the state, especially from the angle of whether smoking affects kids, he said.
He approached Waseca County Fair Board president Trevor Kanewischer about the survey to get the public’s reaction to some kind of smoking policy on the fairgrounds. “Instead of saying to the board ‘we want this policy,’ we’re trying to get an assessment,” said Miller.
No one under the age of 18 is being asked to complete a survey, he said.

Diedrich, Seberson and Zafft started working the fair crowd at noon Thursday. Seberson said she is interested in getting the public’s opinion on the issue. They themselves have grown up in homes where no one smoked and say they have never even been tempted to try a cigarette. Still they are open to ideas about what is appropriate for fairground smoking. Zafft said the Beer Garden is an area where smoking could be allowed.
“It’s okay because it’s all adults,” she said. Anywhere there are kids, people shouldn’t be able to smoke, said Diedrich. That includes carnival workers who are sometimes seen smoking at the same time they are helping kids on rides. Their goal for the day was 150 surveys. At 2 p.m., they had 20 completed. Diedrich said most people were supportive of making most of the fair non-smoking.

Diane Roesler of Waseca completed a SHIP survey. It asks for opinions on smoking in different areas of the fairgrounds, such as exhibit areas, the carnival, food areas and beer garden and the strength of the opinion, either for or against limiting smoking in those areas. Roesler said as a non-smoker, it would be nice if people weren’t smoking in the eating area of the fair.

One person who heard the girls ask someone to complete a survey did not like the idea of restricting smoking. He said if the fair board got rid of smoking they should also get rid of the beer garden because drinking is also bad for people, according to Diedrich. “He said it is not fair to single out smokers,” she said. Zafft said the man asked them to leave the building. When the girls reported their experience to Miller, he told them they could expect some negative reaction to the smoking survey and not to let it discourage them. Diedrich said the purpose of the survey is just to get the public’s general opinion on smoking and that nothing is going to happen as a result. It would take two or three years if it did, said Seberson.

There is a statewide campaign under way to end smoking in parks and public places, Zafft said. “It’s about making Minnesota a healthier state,” said Diedrich.

Ruth Ann Hager covers city politics and education for the Waseca County News. Reach her at 837-5446.