(Beaver Dam) Country music legend Toby Keith passed away earlier this week after a long battle with cancer. Dodge County Fair Treasure Sharon Keil told the 95.3 WBEV Morning Show that Keith’s 2001 appearance at the fair may have drawn the biggest crowd ever to the annual event.
“We’ve had great crowds before that. We had backup traffic, but this was beyond that. The Kiwanians will attest to that.” Keil said. “They did our gates and there is no way we were prepared for what was coming. All of the board members were working at the gate. All of the sheriff’s department were helping at the gate. Finding places to park the cars on the grounds was unbelievable.”
Keil added that “He (Keith) played a tremendous 90-minute show and despite the large crowds, they didn’t have any issues on the grounds and all of those things attest to the greatness of his singing.”
A few months after his appearance in Dodge County, Keith won the Academy of Country Music’s 2001 Top Male Vocalist of the Year Award. He was 62-years-old.
Photos courtesy of Dodge County Fair & Toby Keith X Account
