Once again this year, the World's Largest Monopoly Game drew attention to housing - and helped visitors to the Minnesota State Fair have a great time, too.

From August 22nd to September 2nd , HUD Minnesota State Office employees staffed a housing information table at the fair. Working with colleagues from other housing agencies and local nonprofit groups, the federal and local "housers" provided information on how to buy a home; where to find apartments to rent; fair housing rights and responsibilities, and made time to discuss housing issues with fairgoers who had questions.

The Monopoly Game, a project of the Minnesota Housing Partnership and HousingMinnesota, was played on a 28 ft. x 28 ft. board, with human volunteers acting as the game pieces. Everything was oversized: the houses, the money, the dice. Between plays, the moderators used facts and figures to educate people about the need for affordable housing and the wide variety of services available.

A 15-foot screen provided information from a variety of sponsors - including 12 separate messages from HUD. The Fair drew 1.7 million people and the Monopoly game and the housing information table certainly had plenty of visitors. HUD staffers had a good time - but worked hard, too: on the left, some of the Minnesota HUD staff who took part in the outreach: Laura Simpson, Anita Olson and L. Peter Bast; sitting are Linda Parks and Patricia Mack.