This year’s Upper Peninsula State Fair proved a perfect venue for a group of U.P. ag leaders to memorialize the late Dave Bahrman, who died earlier this year after 25 years representing his fellow Yooper farmers on the Michigan Farm Bureau Board of Directors.
Attending the Aug. 10 ceremony inside the fairgrounds’ Miracle of Life building were a who’s-who of Upper Peninsula farm and policy leaders, and close members of the Bahrman family, including his wife Karen and twin brother and farming partner Dan, himself an active Farm Bureau member and president of the Hiawathaland Farm Bureau.
At the center of the ceremony was the dedication and unveiling of a large permanent plaque honoring Bahrman’s lifetime of service to Upper Peninsula agriculture. The large sign will hang permanently inside the Miracle of Life building, forever commemorating the life and contributions of a true champion of U.P. farming.
~
Emceeing the event was Bahrman’s successor as Dist. 12 director, Menominee County cattleman Pete Kleiman. When I called for some additional thoughts, I feared everything there was to say had already been said. Thank heavens I was wrong about that.
“Dave was just somebody who loved agriculture, and because he lived it, that love developed more and more when he got involved in Farm Bureau. “On the board of directors you get around a little bit more, so Dave saw what was needed in other areas. He spent a lot of time looking for how to accomplish what U.P. farmers needed.”
Case in point: The very facility where his legacy is now permanently memorialized.
When the State of Michigan owned the U.P. State Fairgrounds, using the facility outside fair week meant shuffling a burden of paperwork to and from Lansing. Meanwhile, the grounds themselves went neglected much of the year, with routine maintenance mounting over time.
“Dave was instrumental in returning the fairgrounds to U.P. control.,” Kleiman said. “’Somehow we gotta get the state’s hands outta this,’ he’d say. Dave pushed hard, but you can’t do anything without including other people and getting their help and support. Dave worked with everyone.
“The fairgrounds could be run as a business, but you have 15 counties in the U.P. and you had to include everybody. That’s how they developed the U.P. State Fair Board — with a representative from each county — to make better use of the resources we had right here.”
While still obviously mourning the loss of his longtime friend and colleague, Kleiman’s voice over the months since Bahrman’s passing has changed from sadness to a grounded tone of deep admiration.
“He had a lot of patience and always seemed relaxed about everything. ‘We’re working on it,’ he’d always say. Dave understood the system, and that getting things done took time.”
Finally, after years of careful deliberation, negotiation, consensus-building and problem solving…
“The job got done: The State of Michigan deeded it to the U.P. State Fair Authority — because Dave looked for a long-term solution and got involved in making it happen, listening and learning what needed to be done.
“It was one of his best qualities: Dave asked questions and understood what people wanted.”
~
MFB President Ben LaCross marked the occasion by praising the strong Yooper focus Bahrman brought to the boardroom, including his longstanding support for the permanent Miracle of Life building now home to his unmissable memorial sign.
Realized after decades of hosting the event under a tent, the Miracle of Life building is a multipurpose resource and point of pride shared by all six northernmost county Farm Bureaus: Chippewa, Copper Country, Hiawathaland, Iron Range, Mac-Luce-Schoolcraft and Menominee.
Dist. 38 State Senator and Iron Range Farm Bureau member Ed McBroom used the occasion to present a resolution — signed by all the U.P.’s full complement of lawmakers — commemorating Bahrman’s lifetime of service to Michigan agriculture on both sides of the Bridge.
Click here to read the full proclamation.
Share Story
Article Tags
