ST. PAUL, Minn. — It’s one of the busiest buildings at the Minnesota State Fair for both animals and people.
“My day job is I’m a teacher. A high school teacher at Forest Lake, Minnesota, Forest Lake Area High School,” said Mike Miron.
Even though classes don’t begin for a few more days, Miron is already in teaching mode. He’s a manager and advisor at the Miracle of Birth Center.
“We’ve actually been getting ready for this fair, pretty much during the previous fair,” said Miron.
Just like a farmer they go from sunup to sundown, and there’s tons of work that goes into getting a building ready to be an animal super nursery.
“Our day normally starts at 6 a.m., we normally go home at 10 p.m.,” said Miron. “We have sheep lambing, we have swine farrowing, we’ve got eggs hatching.”
It’s been that like that since 2001. That’s when the Miracle of Birth idea was born. It began as a collaboration between FFA, the University of Minnesota and the Veterinary Medical Association. The animals and volunteers then moved to their current location in 2006. About 200 calves, lambs and piglets are now born inside this building each year.