Fair honors volunteers at dinner
Dan Deml receives a hearty congratulations from Mike Hamilton, center, and Wayne Steele, left, at Sunday night’s Appreciation Dinner for volunteers at the Steele County Fairgrounds. Deml was honored for his 45 years of service to the fair, most recently as the fair’s president. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
No less than 24 volunteers were honored for combined service of more than 400 years at Sunday night’s Appreciation Dinner at the Steele County Fairgrounds.
Leading the list of service awards this year was none other than the fair’s long-time president, Dan Deml. While he has been serving as president for about the past 10 years, Deml has logged in 45 years of service to the fair.
Service awards were given out in five-year increments from 5 years to 45 years.
The dinner honored around 285 volunteers to thank them for helping put on Minnesota’s largest county fair, which began Tuesday and runs through Sunday.
As fair manager Scott Kozelka introduced the superintendents of the various divisions and asked them to stand, at least half of the people stood up proudly wearing their blue fair shirts. “This is what makes our fair,” he said. “You are the face of the Steele County Free Fair.”
Deml said volunteers are one of Steele County’s greatest assets. “We couldn’t put on a fair if you had to hire all of them,” he said. “So many people take ownership in this fair. They are proud of the fair and have lots of pride and ownership in it.”
The dinner has become an annual tradition on the Sunday night prior to the fair. “It’s our way of saying thanks to all the volunteers,” Deml said, adding he hopes it gives them energy and enthusiasm going into the week-long fair.
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Steele County Fair Service Awards
5 years
Terry Hansen- Auto Museum
Kevin Dillemuth- Great Outdoors Center
Ryan Gillespie- Indoor Concessions
Justin Ohnstad- Indoor Concessions
BJ Busho- Infield Hospitality
10 years
Jon Simon- Auto Museum
Korey Borchert- Homemade Beer
Tim Lueck- Fair Photography
Christina Spencer- Young Artists
John Weisenburger- Worship
15 years
Pam Mikeworth- Fine Arts
Tracy Ignaszewski- 4-H Liaison
Steve Stoykovich- Plumber
20 years
Arlene Gleason- Fine Arts
Ron Janning- Iron Show
David Johnson- Iron Show
Myron Spindler- Woodworking
25 years
Liz Tinaglia- FFA
30 years
Greg Johnson- Senior Day
Carol Rypka- Vegetables
Rick Ellingson- Board
35 years
Courtney Mislinski (Haney)- Fruit Crops
Pat Raetz- Textiles
45 years
Dan Deml- Board