He's going to be with me the whole weekend, spiritually. My dad was my best friend and he walks beside me every day and I'm going to enjoy the fair with my kids and grandkids.”

Patti Kinneman Bovee

For Hager City hay farmer Harlin Kinneman, everything about the Pierce County Fair was "perfeck," as he said it. Everything with one single exception.
"The only thing that bummed my dad out about the fair was when it was over," said his daughter, Patti Kinneman Bovee. "He would say it every year, 'Well, it's done this year, but already I can't wait until next year."
The 142nd annual Pierce County Fair in Ellsworth is expecting over 15,000 people during its four-day run Aug. 7-10. Harlin Kinneman has been in that crowd for close to 90 Pierce County Fairs.
"He's been going since he was a little kid," Patti said, "and he never missed one of them his whole life."
Harlin Kinneman hung around the fair like hazy smoke from a sizzling grill open to close. He had more items on his must-see list than ants on a candy apple dropped by a four-year-old.
"My dad loved everything about the fair," Patti said. "The smell of the food, the music of 'The Memories,' and especially the tractor pull. He was a farmer his whole life and, boy, did he love the tractor pull."
Last year, sadly, was Harlin's last Pierce County Fair.
"I'm going to try not to cry," Patti said, "but he had the best time of his life last year at the tractor pull."
Harlin may have set an Ellsworth Care Center record for staying up the latest on Friday night a year ago.
"He told me, 'You never know how many years I have left, so I'm not ready to go yet. I feel great," said Patti, wiping away some tears.
Dementia may have caused Harlin to not be able to remember who he had lunch with on a random day, but he could remember and recite intricate details of the Pierce County Fair for decades of visits.
Harlin passed away this past January, but he instilled a love of the Pierce County Fair for his family.
"It's going to be tough going this year, but good," Patti said, "because we have so many memories at the fair. He's going to be with me the whole weekend, spiritually. My dad was my best friend and he walks beside me every day and I'm going to enjoy the fair with my kids and grandkids.”
Harlin Kinneman was the type of guy who would delay his own family's vacation to stop on the side of the road and fix a stranded stranger's car.
"He loved helping people and just loved people, in general," Patti said. "I think that's another reason he loved the fair so much is because that's where he got to see so many of his friends."
For those fair-goers in the picnic area this year, have a seat at the table with "In Memory of Harlin G. Kinneman" engraved on it. When it's time to go see the "Showdown at Curdtown" on Friday night (the tractor pull), let an "Okie Dokie, Smokey!" fly out of your mouth in honor of Harlin's favorite saying.
Okie Dokie, Smokey!
Smoke will be flying from the exhaust pipes during this year's main event tractor pull Friday night Aug. 8 beginning at 6:30 p.m. According to tractor pull co-chair Pete Lubich, they are expecting close to 100 contestants this year vying for cash and trophies. Lubich is helping run the event, but he said he's also participating, "My tractor's down right now, but I hope to get it up and running by the 8th."
Lubich and fellow tractor pull co-chair Ryan Joy are both members of the River Falls FFA Alumni group managing the event. Borderline, a company from Minnesota, ran the logistics for the tractor pull the last three years, but it was costing the Pierce County Fair much needed funding and the River Falls FFA Alumni stepped in to help.
"We're trying to help the fair out, but it will help what the FFA Alumni supports, too," Joy said.
The River Falls FFA has 125 kids in middle school and high school. The FFA Alumni group funded $7,000 for local scholarships, $2,600 in school internships, and $6,000 in Supervised Agricultural Experience grants for students.
The River Falls FFA Alumni helps agricultural education of students by managing 32 acres of crop land and a school garden for the River Falls School District.
"We also donate to ag-related projects," Joy said, "and other community organizations like the fire department, the Our Neighbor's Place backpack program and the WESTconsin Credit Union school supply drive."
The Pierce County Fair tractor pull is not only revving up the fun on Friday night, Aug. 8, it's also helping support area students.
As Harlin Kinneman would’ve likely said, "Perfeck."