As in most rural regions, fairs and festivals are a core part of Ozarks culture. What they recognize differs depending on the place, but regardless of whether it’s about apples or apple butter or pumpkins or old-time music, they share a common factor: People who make them possible in support of community good.
That’s true in rural southwest Missouri, where Pat and Peggy Napper were recently chosen as grand marshals of the 2026 Billings Community Fair.
The couple, married 64 years, invested decades in supporting their neighbors. Pat, born on the same farm where he lives at 90, was a longtime school bus driver and basketball and football referee. Peggy was the first school nurse in the next town over, a role she held through generations of kids. They’ve long been active in a local church. They didn’t want to become celebrities, but they are famous among their neighbors…