It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. And at the St. Tammany Parish Fair, it’s volunteer Matthew Willie.

Portable toilets, trash, grounds work, tables, chairs, security, signage and barricades, Willie’s list of tasks goes on and on. But his love for community is in the details.

He’s the first one to arrive, and the first to lend a helping hand — a quiet hero behind the scenes. He also oversees the rodeo, making sure the parish — now ripe with development — keeps a piece of its rural history intact.

“He works countless, long hours during the fair, as he opens and closes the buildings daily,” said Melissa Dottolo, past president and current board member of the fair. “He is the first to get to fair events.”

And he does it without need for praise — in fact, he hates the spotlight, s

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