MINOT (AP) - By the end of the North Dakota State Fair, volunteers from the Minot Curling Club will be as polished at selling milk, shakes and ice cream as the granite stones they skip during a bonspiel.

Curling club members are working the Midwest Dairy Association malt wagon, raising money for the club, promoting North Dakota dairy products and most of all, having fun.

Michael, Liz and Lindsay Bakk worked the malt wagon together on Friday. They said it was geared around Lindsay's return home from college in Fargo, but the ulterior motive was to sample the fair food after work.

"This is family fair food Friday," Michael Bakk said. "When we're done here, we're going to be pounding on the food."

Lindsay Bakk said the four-hour drive home was worth the six-hour work shift at the State Fair. As the customers began rolling in, the Bakks delivered products and customer service liked old pros.

"I'm amazed at the number of strawberry shakes that go out of here," Liz Bakk said. "And there's a whole new generation that likes hard ice cream."

Lindsay and her father thought perhaps milk is the better seller. Lindsay said in the places around the fair where milk is available, it is sold in small cartons, while at the malt wagon, a 16-ounce glass of the ice-cold beverage is presented to the customer.

"I think it's popular because it's a good drink," Michael said. "Milk has always been popular, anyway."

Mark Hildahl, president of the 75-member curling club, said volunteers like the Bakks will take care of all aspects of managing the wagon. They order products to stock the wagon, keep it clean and orderly and serve the customers as the Bakks did on Friday.

"Working the malt wagon is a way for club members to keep in touch during the offseason," Hildahl said. "It is also a great way for our club to keep in contact with the fair and our community. Our members really enjoy seeing people at the fair they know and serving dairy products."

Char Heer is North Dakota program manager for the Midwest Dairy Association. She said it's a win-win situation for both entities because the association is able to maintain its presence at the fair and the curling club earns money for next season.

"For many years, we used the dairy princess and dairy farmers," Heer said. "It's just getting so hard to maintain that with farming. So, we looked at groups in Minot, and the curling club took it on for charity."

Michael and Liz have volunteered together at the fair for years, but this is Lindsay's first year as a volunteer. She said they do as much as they can together as a family and this is another way to spend time together.

Michael said curling club members drove small tractors around the fairgrounds for years, transporting people to and from events.

"When it's curling season, it's beer. And when it's the offseason, the beverage of choice is milk," Michael Bakk said. "So it's a perfect marriage. Curling and milk are a perfect marriage."