Dennis Mars of Paullina is a 2022 inductee into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. He was called up to the stage to the recognized for the honor on Wednesday of this year’s O’Brien County Fair. Denny will be presented with his award at the upcoming Iowa State Fair.
Denny was a nine-year 4-H member in rural Paullina. He was also a member of the Paullina High School FFA chapter. He showed cattle at the O’Brien County Fair growing up.
As an adult, Denny was a member of the O’Brien County Fair Board for 38 years, retiring in 2019. He served as a Swine Superintendent for most of those years, helping with weigh-ins and working in the show ring. This was at a time when O’Brien County had over 150 swine exhibitors and over 800 head of hogs at the fair.
During the last several years, Denny served on the Fair Board. He was also the Commercial Exhibit Superintendent, Food Court Manager & Camping Host. He and his wife, Barb, could be seen 3-4 days before the fair preparing for the commercial exhibitors, setting up the food court area and checking campground sites.
Denny was also one of the “go-to” guys when little things came up during the fair. He was often busy behind the scenes to make sure things ran smoothly each year at the fair – moving bleachers, tending to hand washing stations and other daily tasks. Denny enjoyed visiting with the 4-Hers and exhibitors at each fair and worked to make their experience a pleasant one.
When Denny’s son became old enough to join 4-H, Denny took him to most of his meetings. He stayed at the meetings, even though he wasn’t a leader, to help and support he kids. Through those meetings, he was asked to join the Fair Board.
Denny was there to help a 4-Her with a question about their hogs, help in the ring, or be supportive when they made their last walk to the sale ring. He was very influential in helping his son with his 4 –H journey.
The new Hall-of-Famer was also incredibly proud of his grandchildren as they became 4-H members. He enjoyed helping them with their hogs and helping them take care of them. He taught them responsibilities and also instilled in them a love of 4-H. Both grandchildren have gone on to college majors that will work with youth and be involved in ag-related fields.
Denny enjoyed going to other neighboring county fairs. He and Barb would look for things that they could bring back to O’Brien County.
Since retiring from the board, Denny still enjoys farming, collecting John Deere tractors and taking tractor rides. On most nice summer evenings you can find Denny on one of his tractors, cruising along a gravel road, enjoying the sights and sounds of northwest lowa.