Steam fair will have memorial for founder Michael Oliver (From Bournemouth Echo)

Steam fair will have memorial for founder Michael Oliver

12:00pm Tuesday 31st August 2010 in

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WE’RE doing it for dad - that’s the vow from Great Dorset Steam Fair chief Martin Oliver, as final preparations are made for the five-day heritage show, which opens tomorrow.

A memorial service will be held at the show on Friday in honour of his late father, Michael Oliver, who died last November after starting the show in 1968.

“It has been very difficult this year without him around, but he would have wanted us to keep going.

“Dad’s hero was Winston Churchill, and his attitude was get stuck in and get on with it.

“That gives me a lot of comfort, and that’s what we’ve done,” said Martin.

Showmen’s engines, steam-powered agricultural equipment, fairground rides and musical performers are among the attractions booked for the event, which last year attracted 200,000 people.