New Daufeldt Show Ring dedicated at Muscatine County Fairgrounds

Handicap accessible facility was two years in the making due to pandemic

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“This would be a proud day for Clarence and Frances.”

That’s what Don Daufeldt of West Liberty had to say about his parents, former Atalissa farmers and area natives Clarence and Frances Daufeldt, who were honored by his family and the fair board in dedicating the new Daufeldt Show Ring Wednesday, July 21, in a special ceremony at the Muscatine County Fair.

With a $50,000 donation by his sister and her husband, Gloria and Larry Dlouhy of Bettendorf, which not only supported the construction of the new first-class building but was enough to claim the naming rights, the Daufeldt family came out in numbers to honor Clarence and Frances, who passed away in 2008 and 20014 respectively.

The couple had six children including sons Gary, Don, Jim, Marlin and daughters Gloria Dlouhy and Cindy Massey, as well as 19 grandchildren, most of whom live in the West Liberty area, who have provided 21 great-grand-children who will be enrolled in West Liberty Community schools this year.

“Clarence and Frances valued faith, family, farming, and the Fair,” said Tim Nichols, chairman f the building committee for the Muscatine County Fair Board who served as master of ceremonies for the first of dedications on building improvements on the fairgrounds. “They loved the fair, looked forward to it all year long, and never missed it,” he said.

Clarence attended the fair for 81 years and they were honored to be Grand Marshalls of the 2007 Fair Parade, Nichols said. “The fair was always a big family event – the only summer vacation they had – and when Clarence passed away, Frances gave $10,000 to build the gazebo by the Floral Hall in his memory. They also passed the love of the fair down to their children and grandchildren.”

Don Daufeldt said his parents didn’t allow attendance at the fair more than one day growing up ¬– much different than today’s youngsters – noting he saved his spending money for that one big day every year.

Nichols went on to point out many members of the family are involved with the fair annually including their son, Gary, a former fair board member along with grandchildren Brad Daufeldt and, currently, Matt Daufeldt and Kelsie Lampe.

Their granddaughter, Tammy, is the Superintendent of the Floral Hall. Another granddaughter, Lisa Wertsburger, has helped raise funds through donations and write grants for the fair, and her husband, Jason Wertzburger, is on the fair board. The couple’s son, Donnie Daufeldt, and his sons, Brent, Bryan and Brad have businesses that sponsor the fair every year and their grandchildren, Nathan and Marsha, also both own businesses that also sponsor the fair. Their daughter Cindy Massey donated to the fundraising campaign and enters in the fruits and vegetables division.

“Most of the family grew up going to the fair, and they are still very active entering projects, showing livestock, and attending the fair all week long,” said Nichols, pointing out many of the great-grandchildren are active in agriculture, 4-H, and FFA, and will be exhibitors at the fair this year.

“Clarence and Frances planted a seed that has grown into generations of families that love and support the Muscatine County Fair,” he said.

It was also pointed out the show ring is surrounded by sidewalks to make the building handicap accessible, something the family desired as a Katie Dlouhy, who died in 2018, had downs syndrome and was mostly wheelchair bound. “We wanted to make sure it was easily accessible for anyone,” said Lisa Wertzburger, her older sister, calling the building a major upgrade from the former structure.

The building also was upgraded with new bleachers on the east end, built from scratch by volunteers and members of the fair board who gave an estimated 100 hours of labor, and the ring is attached by fence to the nearby Kent Swine Pavilion to make it easy for youngsters to show their animals. Construction on the building began in 2019 before the pandemic and wasn’t used last year because of the “virtual fair,” even though the building was basically completed, structurally sound to even survive a derecho wind storm.

Nichols said that in addition to the show ring, Larry and Gloria Dlouhy have sponsored the puppet show at the fair since 2018 in memory of their daughter, Katie, and also donated to help create the Veteran’s Plaza near the north entry gate to the fairgrounds.

“They love the fair and feel it is an invaluable asset to the community,” The Dlouhys praised the fair board “for all they have done to revitalize the fair over the past 10 years.”

“Funding fair activities and projects is an easy decision when you know how hard the fair board and Kelsey Morris work and how well the funds are managed,” added Gloria Dlouhy through a statement.

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