Harris in his younger days showed Australian white rabbits and hogs at the fair. Sometimes Harris would have up to 125+ white rabbits on the farm; many of these rabbits were sold for meat before winter arrived. Skipping forward many years, when Greg McCoy, his son-in-law, was demo derby superintendent, Harris was his dependable sidekick when derby work was needed before and during fair week. Harris’ derby work during those years included using his 1951 Farmall M tractor to pull cars off the track during the derby. After many years as part of the pull-off crew they had this task “down to a science” with capable equipment and dependable crew. He also took his Farmall Super H tractor to the “car show” that was part of the Saturday events.

 Another chore he loved to do for the fair was to mow the fairgrounds from Spring to Fall. He would drive his tractor to town after lunch and mow till the grandkids were let out of school for the day. He would be home in time to get them off the school bus. Also, Harris made it his “chore” to eat every meal at the fair during fair week. In his mind this is how he could support the community vendors who made fair food what it is today. His favorite was always the great breakfasts that were served on the fairgrounds.

 Lastly, as the fair week ended Harris was always ready to help with cleanup day. This was usually the Monday after the fair was over and the vendors and amusement company was gone from the premises. This salt of the earth farmer and community supporter cherished every year at the fair. In our small town this was a fair that was started as a fair gathering of tents on community property and grew to what we know it as of today with the help of numerous volunteers and supporters.