Tom Hawley will see this year’s Monroe County Fair parade from a new vantage point.
The recently retired Monroe News photographer was named marshal for the Sunday, Aug. 2 fair parade.
“The (fair) board has selected Tom Hawley as the 2026 Monroe County Fair parade marshal,” said Darryl Diamond, fair manager. “We have been blessed with Tom’s interest in the Monroe County Fair and his incredible photography skills for years. He really is a great guy and his passion shows through his work. It just felt right to choose Tom as this year’s parade marshal.”
Hawley retired from The Monroe News in September 2025, after an approximately 50-year career in local journalism.
“I was totally surprised when Darryl called me; shocked,” Hawley said. “It brought tears to my eyes. I am so honored to be part of a great fair. I felt that I was the guy to bring the fair to readers in photos.”
Hawley, 69, of Monroe, photographed his first Monroe County Fair in 1979. He and his wife, Linda, have gone to the fair together for 35 years.
“I believe in my career I shot at 30 fairs; thousands of images. I shot everything out there at least once,” Hawley said. “I couldn’t image the number of steps I took out there. Usually I was carrying two camera bodies with two to three lenses. By the end of the week, I was toast.”
In the early years, Hawley shot black-and-white film that he had to manually develop in a darkroom. Later, he switched to digital photography. Sometimes, to get photos online quickly, he’d download images right at the fair.
Hawley’s 2023 image of Kody Fitch and his steer won 2023 feature photo of the year in the Michigan Press Photographers Association contest.
Hawley said Fitch’s photo and shooting the large animal auction in 2024 are his favorite memories of the Monroe County Fair.
Hawley’s other fond memories include following Clydesdale horses and their trainer in 2017 and the annual Senior Citizens Day program, where the oldest attendees are honored.
“Always a pleasure to shoot that,” Hawley said.
Hawley also recalled his 2021 photos of the Sivil family. Joey Sivil competed in the fair’s demolition derby in tribute of his dying grandfather. Joey was just 14 and was given a special waiver to compete in the derby against his father.
Hawley said he enjoyed finding different ways each year to capture the Monroe County Fair.
“I’d try to be creative with angles on the midway, trying for an unusual image,” Hawley said. “The last 10 years at the fair, I would give myself a challenge to make different images. One year it was food or the midway or maybe it was just children. I must say I loved those barns. Those kids worked so hard.”
The 2023 fair parade marshal was another retired Monroe News employee, reporter Dean Cousino, who covered the fair for 45 years. Last year’s parade marshal was Rollo Juckette, longtime auctioneer and fair volunteer.
The 2026 Monroe County Fair will run Aug. 2-8.
“The 79th-annual Monroe County Fair theme is ‘Stars & Stripes & Country Nights,'” Diamond said. “The Monroe County 4-H clubs submit fair themes each year. This year’s winner is Legacy 4-H Club (leader Michelle McLaughlin).”
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Tom Hawley named parade marshal for 2026 Monroe County Fair
Reporting by Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
