The Maria Stein Country Fest has the food, and the rides, and even some live music. But what sets this festival apart from others is eight tractors going full-tilt square dancing. This unique entertainment has been going on for 28 years.
“We went ahead and seen some other guys run, but we run next to road gear,” says Bob Unrast, 28-year Tractor Square Dancer. “We only got four gears in this, we run in third, and sometimes you got to go to fourth. But we try and put a show on, otherwise, you would go to sleep. You know. And we put a show on. Every show we have is a packed house.”
“I know when Bob asked me to do it I said, ‘This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my entire life,’” says Dennis Kremer 28-year Square Dancer. “But he said, ‘Do you want to do it?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ It’s something that you ain’t suppose to do with your tractor and I get to do it.”
While the moves may be classic, the theme changes every year, for 2022 they are doing dancing with country music stars, including Blake, Reba, Toby, and of course Dolly.
“We are going to have to start doubling up, because we did some of these years ago, you know 28 years ago. We can bring some of those back,” adds Unrast. “We want to make everybody laugh and have fun.”
Jim Steinemann is making his first appearance with the group, and he had to do some research to make sure he is “do si doing" with the rest of them.
“I was watching YouTube videos actually to help learn what they are doing,” says Jim Steinemann Rookie Tractor Square Dancer. “I used to square dance a lot in my youth, but I haven’t done a lot these last years. So, it was a little bit of a big learning curve to figure out, which way to turn. To go left, right, and circle around.”
It is no surprise, of what makes Country fest so successful is 32 wheels of dirt flying fun, that leaves the crowd smiling.
“This is all for charity, it’s a good cause to help all of the clubs in town here and draw people in,” adds Steinemann. “I hear we have people from Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana, Alabama and a lot of them came just for the square dancing, so that is Awesome.”
“That is really why we do it for. It’s for entertainment. It’s just good, It’s just good. It is just a lot of fun,” exclaims Kremer.
