March 29, 2024

Baxter couple keeps state fair tradition since 1946

DES MOINES —During the height of the Great Depression, the Iowa State Fair held the third of four head-on locomotive collisions. It’s a pretty well-documented story. It was 1932, and the presidential race between Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt was putting the candidates head to head on and off the rail. Each car was labeled with a candidate’s name as they sped toward one-another at full speed, ending in a massive fireball.

This was the first visit to the Iowa State Fair for then 10-year-old Doris Bach.

“I remember the famous train wreck. I was in grade school at the time, but I was there,” Doris said.

She would not return to the fair again until 1946 — the first fair held post World War II. And she would return as Doris Saak. She and her husband Virgil Saak have now attended every Iowa State Fair since. In total, the Saak’s have seen 68 fairs together.

Married Aug. 29, 1945, attending the fair was a wedding anniversary tradition. Before the fair schedule moved to the beginning of the month, Doris and Virgil would pack a picnic lunch of potato salad, fried chicken and all the fixins and travel to Des Moines to celebrate. The couple’s mothers “Mrs. Bach” and “Mrs. Saak,” as Doris calls them, also shared a birthday that same day. Each year the mothers would join their children for state fair fun. After a morning of listening to old-time music at Pioneer Hall, seeing the Agricultural Building, the shopping at Grandstand flea markets, the family would return to their parking spot and open the picnic basket.

The couple raised their family on a century farm near Baxter. Before retirement, Doris taught country school in Killduff and south of Baxter. Virgil was a row crop farmer, and when their son, grandson and granddaughter were old enough they all showed sheep at the fair. This sparked a new family tradition —taking up residence in the state fair campground.

Doris said the first camper they owned was truck-mounted, and they eventually graduated to the big-leagues with a full-sized motor home. Doris and Virgil would camp with friends and family, sometimes visiting the local Des Moines restaurants for a break from campground cooking. They camped the fair nearly every fair until three years ago when they finally decided the campground was too packed for comfort and sold their RV.

“We were there the year it was 109 degrees. We got to the campers and you absolutely could not stand it inside. Everybody slept out in the yard that night. You didn’t need sleeping bags. It was hot. But we were quite a bit younger then,” she said.

“It used to be fun, but anymore it’s so crowded. We used to have a little TV that you could plug into the car battery, so we usually didn’t get electricity to stay for a couple of days.”

Aug. 8, the 92-year-old Doris and 94-year-old Virgil started their Ford Fusion and drove to Des Moines, beginning the 2014 fair as they do each year, eating breakfast near the sheep barn. This year, they found their favorite place to eat bacon and eggs closed. So they found a new spot near the Grand Concourse.

After relaxing on a bench under the Pepsi Clock, Doris and Virgil started their stroll to their favorite state fair exhibit — the Varied Industries Building. Although in their 90s, the Saak’s still hoof it — walking the entire grounds or “until they get tired.”

Their first stop outside the exhibit hall was to the Iowa Farm Bureau booth. Doris registered for $1,000 in free groceries. Just inside the Varied Industries Building, the couple registered for a $50,000 sweepstakes from Grand Crown Resorts. For each drawing, Doris pulled personalized stationary stickers out of her purse and pressed them to the order form.

At the Kalona Good stand, Doris stopped to look at quilts and fabric. She is an avid quilter within the Bethany United Church of Christ in Baxter, and she made sure to stop at every exhibit with a quilt Friday.

“I should take you upstairs to the quilting department where it really shines,” she said.

While passing the desks for Iowa’s various colleges and universities, Doris joked she’s “a bit beyond that age.” But that did not stop a University of Northern Iowa rep from trying to convince Doris to get a fake UNI tattoo.

“I’m too old,” Doris said.

“You’re never too old,” the Panther replied.

“Yes you are,” Doris said with a grin.

Passing the last educational booth, Debbe Nelson, a rep from Waldorf College stopped Virgil and Doris. She told the couple that she had recently lost her mother and when she saw the two holding hands, she had to know how many state fairs they have attend together. Virgil and Doris agreed to snap a photo with Nelson.

“When you first walked by I had to look twice. It was an honor to meet you,” Nelson said.

Virgil and Doris finished their 2014 ISF experience a little after noon. Although they cannot do the several-day visits as they did when they were younger, Doris said they would be back again next year.

Contact Staff Writer Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com.