FREEPORT — The Stephenson County Fair Association on Sept. 8 announced Kate Boyer as the new Executive Manager for the Association.

Boyer obtained an AA from Parkland College in Champaign, Ill., with a concentration in history and German and membership in Phi Theta Kappa. She has been an entrepreneur for more than twenty years, having established two main street retail stores and a gourmet glass-bottled soda distribution business. 

Boyer created and directed the Homer Soda Festival for five years. With almost eighty outdoor vendors, over 100 volunteers, and 250 different sodas to taste, the event quickly became a national attraction. The one-day festival brought in 15,000 attendees from all over America. She also consulted with spin off Homer Soda Festival events, including one in Dixon, Illinois, produced by Jay Goldberg Productions.

In addition to her own businesses, Boyer spent 25 years as bookkeeper for her family’s factory, a tier one leather saddle bag and tank panel manufacturer for Harley-Davidson. 

Over the years, Boyer has served as a volunteer on numerous boards. She was president of the Recreation Board of Homer, Ill., president of Homer Community Improvement Association, and treasurer of the Homer Opera House theater restoration. She was recognized by the Village of Homer as Volunteer of the Year. 

Boyer was a member on the Main Street Board of Monticello, Ill., and her business was awarded Monticello’s Main Street Preservation Award for the complete restoration of the retail downtown location.

Other positions Boyer held included committee chair of the Cub Scouts in east Champaign County, committee chair for the Board of Evangelism for Immanuel Lutheran Church in Broadlands, secretary of Northern Illinois Christian Home Educators in Freeport, and public relations chair of Noon Rotary in Freeport. She has also volunteered in assisting with other events; One Winter’s Night in Champaign, Red Wines of November in Monticello, Outdoor Movie Nights in Homer, Champaign, Urbana, Monticello, and Paint the Port in Freeport.

The Boyer family became recent transplants to Freeport from Champaign County when Rob Boyer accepted a position with the City of Freeport. Kate and Rob have been married for 20 and have six children ranging in ages from 2 to 20.

Before moving to Freeport, she and her family enjoyed life on a two-acre hobby farm outside of Champaign. She and her daughter milked two Jersey cows, raised several hogs, tended to about sixty chickens, and grew a huge vegetable and herb garden.   

Boyer enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and baking, participating in living history with her girls, genealogy, exploring nature and just being outdoors.