ALTENBURG – The East Perry Community Fair is proud to announce that Mr. Mitch Miller of Cape Girardeau will be honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2022 East Perry Community Fair parade.
The annual Fair parade will be held on Friday, September 23rd at 1:30pm and will run through the heart of Altenburg. The route begins at Maple Street in Altenburg and travels east down Main Street until it reaches Church Street. At this point, the parade makes a right turn and heads south on Church Street until its conclusion at the fairgrounds.
The parade will again include its usual cast of great participants. Local high school bands from Perryville, St. Vincent, Oak Ridge, Chaffee, and Greenville will help set the beat as local schools, civic organizations, and area businesses march, enter floats, or display other entries to promote their causes. On average, the parade has been lasting around one hour, so plan to arrive early at Altenburg to find a clear, comfortable viewing spot and to avoid heavy traffic. The standard traffic flow into Altenburg is stopped around 1:00pm to allow for parade line up, so plan accordingly if you’re expecting to attend.
As for the esteemed Grand Marshal and leader of this year’s parade, Mr. Mitch Miller, he will have no trouble finding the fairgrounds in Altenburg. He’s been working this event on behalf of Kohlfeld Distributing for the last 50 years, bringing trailers filled with kegs of Kohlfeld signature brands to the fairgoers every year until his retirement in January of 2022. We will likely have to shuttle him away from one of these staple positions and up to the parade staging area when the time comes. So, if you see him enjoying a Coors Light or Stag near the fish stand beer trailer before 1pm, know that all is right in the world.
Mr. Mitch Miller East Perry Community Fair Grand Marshal
The annual selection of Grand Marshal is a process in which the East Perry Community Fair Board takes great pride. Public service figures, civic leaders, business owners, fair workers, and patrons are all examples of individuals taken into consideration while making a Grand Marshal decision. When the name of Mitch Miller was brought up among the group, we knew we had our man. There are few more deserving of this honor, especially when you consider what he has done for the fair over the years. The only concern was, would he accept? We are pleased to announce that Mr. Miller has accepted and that means the 2022 Fair and Parade will be off to a tremendous start. In his own words, Miller said, “I would consider it a great honor of my life.” He followed by saying, “It’s been my distinct pleasure to serve Perry County over my 50 years in the beer industry, but especially East Perry County, the Fair, and everyone there hold a special place in my heart.”
Mitch and his wife Diane reside in Cape Girardeau where they have been married for 54 years as of this month. Mitch and Diane enjoy traveling to the Chicago and Memphis areas to visit their 3 children and seven grandchildren, in addition to many activities, clubs, and organizations here in the Southeast Missouri region. Mr. Miller is a graduate of Cape Central High School, but when I asked for additional details of his educational background, he began to laugh and eventually shrugged his shoulders. If you know Mitch, what followed next were several stories and jokes, for which he is also well-known in this area. There are few people who can walk into any establishment with a liquor license in a 100-mile radius and receive the welcome that Mitch has earned. 50 years of service and friendships will do that, we must suppose.
Well known all throughout Southeast Missouri, but specifically in the beer industry, Mitch has worked in all aspects of the beer business. Beginning with helping deliver beer from a truck all the way to key account management and high-level workings with brewery partners over the years, Mitch is a beer man through and through. Most recently, Mitch was the man preparing, organizing, and installing draft beer equipment and services, both at restaurants and local festivals, such as the East Perry Community Fair. He has been at the forefront of Kohlfeld Distributing’s growth in the field, leading the charge on the ground with new product placements, installations, and his stellar reputation for high-level customer service and building lasting relationships.
While Mitch has never held an “official” position with the East Perry Community Fair, he is undoubtedly best known as the beer man, especially for Kohlfeld brands. As most who attend know, the crowds at the “Best Little Fair in the Land” tend to be on the larger size. To get all the kegs and trailers needed to serve all the attendees of the Fair annually, Mitch worked tirelessly to ensure everything would run smoothly. Mitch would be ‘on-call’ for last-minute hot shots to the Fairgrounds if anything was needed. Specifically, Mitch would bring fresh product up early on Saturday mornings to replenish the trailers and remove empty kegs. Not a glamorous job by any means, actually quite thankless, Mitch always rallied a few lucky souls to help early on Saturday mornings, almost certainly after a long Friday at the Fairgrounds the day and night before. As Mitch would tell anyone trying to give him any of the credit, he knows he’s not alone. And he relishes the opportunity to work with like-minded individuals who share his passion for service to an event and its people.
Great memories, great times, and great friends. That is what keeps Mr. Miller coming back to the Fair as we’re sure it does for many others. He mentions the great friendships and accompanying experiences as big parts of his memories of the Fair. Even some friends that are no longer with us, but he can still remember them like yesterday just by stepping foot on the Fairgrounds in Altenburg. We can tell you this, it is a great reward to the East Perry Community Fair to have Mr. Mitch Miller as such an invaluable part of our event, and we cannot thank him enough for all his efforts over the years. We wish him a long, happy, and healthy retirement.
Come out, enjoy the Fair, and maybe seek Mitch out to say thank you if you think about it. It’s guys like Mitch and the groups of vendors and volunteers who year after year do the thankless, behind the scenes stuff that makes the fair go off without a hitch. Don’t expect to see Mitch venture too far from the main Fair area near the fish, hamburger, and of course, beer stands after he makes his Grand Marshal Ride through the parade. He truly deserves the year off to celebrate and be celebrated, but that’s just not his style. He’ll be back in his element with his friends and neighbors and just won’t have it any other way.
The East Perry Community Fair says thank you and congratulations to Mr. Mitch Miller the Grand Marshal of the 2022 East Perry Community Fair.