This year’s honorary 2026 Beef Days Grand Marshal is Scott Kleppe. Scott passed away in June of this year after a brief and unexpected illness. His impact on Beef Days and the Solon community has been immeasurable.

Scott grew up in Tipton and moved to Solon in 1998 when he accepted a job in Public Works for the City of Solon. He led the Solon Public Works Department for nearly 27 years and oversaw the set up and tear down of Beef Days all those years. Scott also served on the Beef Days Committee as the vice president under Gary Bentrim then later as the committee president.

Scott’s wife Tina, son Josh, and daughter-in-law Jenny will be in the Beef Days parade in honor of Scott and his many years of devotion to Beef Days. When asked what hobbies and interests were, the answer was fishing and fishing. He treasured getting away from the hectic pace of public works from time to time to fish both for leisure and in tournaments. He also made custom fishing rods with incredible one-of-a-kind designs.

Scott’s favorite Beef Days event was the hay bale toss, a signature event of Beef Day that packed Solon Main Street with people to watch how high a hay bale can be thrown. There wasn’t a part of Beef Days that Scott wasn’t involved in some way and while it was a lot of work, he looked forward to Thursday nights uptown when most of the set up was complete and the committee and folks setting up would gather under the big tent and share a beer and laughs.

Beef Days has grown into a premier eastern Iowa celebration, and Scott’s work is a big part of its success. To our dear friend Scott Kleppe, thank you for your long-time service to Beef Days and our Solon community.