ENGINEERING THE FAIR - coloradoan

One of its most dedicated members, however, is of a different ilk: Steve Humann, a committee member of eight years, makes his living as a full-time engineer.

"I wasn't a professional cowboy like the other guys were," Humann said of his selection for the committee. "But I bring a lot in the way of the administration contracts and scheduling and all that kind of stuff that they really don't want anything to do with."

Engineering Graduation

Humann, 52, serves as the vice president of the local engineering firm Timco, Standard, Tandem and Alpase (TST) Inc., but during his free time, he volunteers as chairman of the Rodeo Committee, a member of the Larimer County Fair Board and the Larimer County Fair Executive Committee and a project leader for 4-H.

He puts in countless volunteer hours — one year he tallied 250 hours at the fair and rodeo — and though an engineer might sound like an unlikely fairgrounds volunteer, Humann has been a respected member of the community, valued by others for his unique expertise.

"He's meticulous and organized. He's focused on what he's doing, and he's definitely a team player," said Richard Rule, the operation supervisor at The Ranch and a rodeo committee member.

"I'd have him on my team no matter what I was doing."

Laurel Kubin, the Larimer County extension director and a member of the fair executive committee, said Humann has a talent for considering multiple sides of an issue.

"He uses great tact in bringing up another side to be considered whenever some decision is being made," Kubin said. "He doesn’t get defensive."