Bernie Bader has been a math teacher at the Montgomery County R-II School District for many years.

So it’s a good thing that her math skills come in handy every time she works in the kitchen during the Montgomery County Fair.

“I don’t just sit around doing nothing and I like to cook,” Bader said. “So I found myself hanging out in the kitchen. Being a math teacher, they all know that I’m good at math. They put me at the window working to collect money and do all of the math calculations. I spent many hours in the kitchen working at the window.”

Bader’s efforts at the kitchen helped her become the Montgomery County Fair’s Volunteer of the Year for 2024. She received her honor during the Vegas Night Fundraiser event that was held in March at the Merchants Building.

“I kind of had a heads up,” Bader said. “They asked me to make sure that I was there and my brain went thinking, ‘Why did they want to make sure that I was there?’ That (the award) was the only thing I could think of. I had an idea of what it was, but I didn’t know for sure until they made the announcement. But it was pretty awesome. It was exciting.”

By being named volunteer of the year, Bader was named the Grand Marshall of this year’s fair. She got to ride at the parade on July 15. She said she enjoyed the attention she got during the parade.

“I told my husband that it was absolutely amazing to have these people making so much noise,” Bader said. “It makes you feel so good because you don’t get paid anything for doing that. Teaching is not a great paying job, either. Just to know that there’s that many people cheering for you is fabulous.”

Bader has been teaching in the R-II School District for 25 years. She has worked as a math teacher at Montgomery County High School since 2011.
Bader said she and her family always looked forward to coming to the fair every year. Her children participated in the 4-H chapter for 17 years.

“I love it,” Bader said. “When my kids were young, we spent many days up here every year. We had a camper for a few years, but we gave that up. I just drive.”

Since 1985, the fair has given out a volunteer of the year award to someone who made a huge contribution to the biggest event in the county. The honor has been given out every year except 2020, when the fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bader said she enjoyed being a part of a group of volunteer winners that included Walt McQuie, Sr., Mary Carroz, Roy Cope, Dave and Tammy Teeter and the 2023 winners Tim and Kim Schroeder.

“Being an educator, I love helping people, so it was just another piece of that,” Bader said. “They’re great to work with. It’s kind of like education. You have good days and bad days. With volunteering, you’re always talking about getting fired. You can’t get fired at a volunteer job unless you’re doing a really bad job. A lot of times, they’ll ask me to come back. That’s a really great feeling for them to ask you to come back and to know they want your help.”