Lyle Wahl, it's safe to say, is a fair-minded man.
He has, after all, spent 35 years directing his efforts and talents toward the successful staging of the Saline Community Fair. He has been at the center of the popular fair, which in September will enter its 72nd year, for nearly half the annual tradition's history.
Wahl, this year's Saline Salutes Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, joined the Saline Community Fair Board in 1972 and served as its treasurer for half a decade. In 1979, he was elected board president, a post he filled for the next 18 years. He is currently in charge of gate admissions.
Wahl's involvement with the fair stems from a childhood fascination with the event and an unfilled desire. Reared in a home in downtown Saline that still stands across the lot from Benny's Bakery, Wahl hadn't the land or means to raise and show livestock, something he always dreamed of doing.
"The fair pulled me more or less with its agricultural activities," recalled Wahl, who now owns a 91-acre farm in Freedom Township that he bought in 1981.
He and his wife, Diane, breed Hampshire sheep. Wahl's children have had the chance he didn't.
"I tell them you're raising that steer because you're doing something your dad wanted to do as a kid," he said with a small laugh.
Wahl, 63, has two sons, two stepsons, and a stepdaughter. Three of the five have served in the U.S. military and two have served in Iraq.
After graduating from Ferris State University in 1965 with a degree in accounting and joining an accounting firm in Ann Arbor, Wahl looked around for a volunteer opportunity he would enjoy. The Saline Community Fair Board seemed a perfect fit.
Wahl loved the fair as a kid. He remembers sneaking out of class as a young student in Union School to watch through a window the fair setting up on Henne Field. Now he wants to ensure that the fair holds the same attraction for future generations.
"I like the idea that we're building memories in our kids," he said.
While its roots remain in Saline's agricultural heritage, the fair has changed some over the past three decades, Wahl said.
It's grown, for one. The fair's budget was once around $50,000. It is now more than $200,000. The fair board used to consist of 15 members. It's now up to 30.
"As the community and times change, the fair has to change, too," said Wahl, who lists among the highlights of his presidential tenure the upgrading of the carnival in 1980 when the fair board hired McDonagh Amusements to provide rides, a relationship that continues today.
In 1981, the first demolition derby was held. Wahl was also instrumental in bringing in professional musical groups to entertain, including Steve Wariner, The Van Dells and Helen Cornielius. In 1987, the fair featured Otto Herrmann's Royal Lippizans. Wahl still recalls that year's fair as one of the best ever.
"The fair board that I had the pleasure to work with were tremendous people dedicated to their jobs," Wahl said. "They built a lot of happy memories for children, parents and grandparents who came to and participated in the fair."
His work and visibility on the fair board led Wahl to other volunteer opportunities, including serving as a charter member of the Saline Community Hospital Foundation Board, which he chaired for 10 years.
In 1991, he chaired a capital campaign drive to raise $4 million to expand the hospital. He is currently serving as chairman of the Southern Regional Advisory Board. He joined the Saline Rotary Club in 1978 and drew on his love of agriculture to start the Gross/Johnson Agri-Business Scholarship Fund, which memorializes two former Rotarians who were farm implement dealers in the area.
He also re-started the Saline Rotary steer raffle drawing at the fair, a fund-raiser that contributes to scholarships for Saline-area students.
Wahl, who lives now near Manchester, said he was a little surprised when he learned he was to receive the Lifetime Achievement award.
"Just goes to prove you can still serve the community without living here day-to-day," he said. "My heart's still here."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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