Sanders County Fair draws crowds

PLAINS - The 2013 Sanders County Fair descended upon Plains on Monday, bringing with it all the ceremony, showmanship, display and carnival atmosphere residents have come to expect from the annual celebration. Thousands were in attendance for the event that began earlier in the week and ended Sunday with the traditional demolition derby finale.

The fair included the 4H shows, three nights of rodeo, horticulture and floriculture, arts and crafts displays, carnival rides and games as well as a wide variety of foods and other refreshments for attendees. Although exact numbers are not yet available, Fair Manager Mike Hashisaki said attendance and revenues were up from previous years.

“I’d say judging by the amount of traffic, attendance was good,” said Hashisaki. “The rodeos were all up in attendance. Revenues were up. It’s been very positive this year.”

The Sanders County Fair began on Monday as entries were accepted in categories including arts, crafts, photography, sewing and needlecraft in the home economics building. Artists registered their work with superintendents while assistants displayed the art around the building.

Arts, crafts and photography Superintendent Judy Triboulet said the art entered in this years fair was of a particularly high quality. Triboulet said judges were looking for a variety of factors when analyzing art.

“The judges look for technique, clarity and contrast,” said Triboulet. “In the art category they want to see good use of color. I saw so much talent this year I can’t pick out a favorite. I liked them all.”

In the arts, crafts and photography category best of show for adults and seniors was won by Valerie Curtis with the child and youth win going to Mahala Harris. In the home sewing and needlecraft categories, best of show for adults and seniors went to Eileen Hutchens with Kaitlyn Havens taking the child and youth prize.

Wednesday morning saw the arrival of the entries for the agriculture, culinary arts, floriculture and horticulture entries. Food products ranging from canned fruits and vegetables to freshly baked breads and pies filled the home economics building.

Culinary arts Superintendent Kay Franke said the chefs that chose to enter this year’s competition created a high grade of product.

“For canning, the judges are looking for appearance, color and texture,” said Franke. “For something like breads, they look for appearance and taste. The food this year looks really good.”

In culinary arts, the competition was divided into two categories, baking and canning. In baking, best of show in adult and senior was taken by Delane Johnston with Case Johnston winning the child and youth award. In canning, Judy Coe won best of show for the adults and seniors while Chloe French canned her way to the best of show win in the child and youth category.

Just a few feet away in the adjacent building, pumpkins and gourds the size of beach balls mingled amongst other fruits and vegetables on display. Potatoes, onions, zucchini, herbs and other assorted edible treats adorned the tables in the center of the barn.

Horticulture Superintendent Sherry Hagerman-Benton said that despite lower entry numbers, the field was of a high quality.

“The judge was impressed,” said Hagerman-Benton. “The number one thing the judges are looking for is uniformity. If for example there are several elements on a plate, they are supposed to look like little clones. Then he looks for quality. Sometimes they take a taste test to see if it warrants that blue ribbon.”

In the horticulture category, Colleen Mesing won best of show while Chloe French won the award in the agriculture category.

On the opposite side of the facility, brilliant hues of color were on display as a wide variety of flowers graced the room. Floriculture Superintendent Karen Dykstra said the number of entries was down from previous years but the examples that were entered were of a superior quality.

“We had some beautiful entries,” said Dykstra. “The judges are looking for different things with different flowers but mainly they look at the shape and color. We had some gorgeous flowers this year.”

Awards for horticulture were divided into divisions. The garden flower division was won by Sherry Hagerman-Benton while Mike Efta won both the dahlia and gladiolus categories. Carol Lanz won best of division in the rose show.

Wednesday also saw the arrival of animals ranging from chickens and ducks to lambs and pigs along with their handlers for the start of the 4H portion of the fair. Animals were unloaded into holding pens as the barns at the fairgrounds became a scene of controlled chaos.

The familiar sounds of livestock could be heard echoing through the barn as animals were registered and soothed by their young owners and trainers. A few stubborn animals had to be coaxed into their places but most quickly adjusted to their new homes for the next few days.

Thursday began with the judging of the horticulture and floriculture entries. Interviews with 4H members began in the afternoon with experts asking questions about their entries. Interviewers asked 4H participants questions from how much their animal weighed to what type of predator presented the greatest threat to their breed of animal.

Thursday saw the first animal shows beginning with horse and sheep followed by goats and ending with dogs. Handlers displayed their showmanship skills as judges took their time analyzing the animals. The shows consisted of 4H participants parading their animal before the judges, answering questions about their animal and finally the decision about what ribbon they would be taking home.

Festivities on Thursday culminated with the first night of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association sponsored event in the fairgrounds arena. Brought to Sanders County by Powder River Rodeo based out of Wyoming, the first night featured bull riding and mutton bustin’.

In between cowboys catapulting into the air atop snarling bulls, a few parents entered their eager children into what has turned into a crowd favorite. Children held on tight as the lambs they rode during the mutton-bustin’ event took off out into the arena at a low speed to provide entertainment without injury or hazard to the kids.

Despite a few spills, all contestants appeared to enjoy the ride and no injuries were suffered. After the crowd pleasing mutton-bustin’ event, it was back to the chutes for the second half of the bull-riding event.

The Singing Sons of Beaches from Polson along with another act known as the Balladeers provided musical entertainment into the evening hours.

Friday began with more judging of 4H projects. Swine and rabbits were up first followed by cats and poultry. Addison Mueller took home a purple ribbon for showmanship and the reserve ribbon for overall performance for his two ducks Daffy and Ducky.

“They’re pretty funny sometimes,” said Mueller. “I’ve done pretty well with ducks. They’re fun when they play in the kiddy pool.”

Rachel Wroeleski won the grand champion ribbon for her chicken Silver. Wroeleski said her bird had a very distinct personality.

“She has a nice personality but she does like to get her way,” said Wroeleski. “She likes to boss things around.”

The Chicks N’ Chaps fundraising event held their annual rodeo clinic on Saturday teaching women the basics of roping and riding.

Friday’s events concluded with the second day of rodeo. Team roping, steer wrestling, bareback and saddle bronc riding as well as barrel racing and more bull riding events all took place in the arena before grandstands packed with spectators. The musical lineup from the previous night came back for an encore performance to end the evening.

Festivities on Saturday began in the morning with the Open Ranch Horse Show, where 4H kids showed off their showmanship, directed the horses around barrels, trotted their animal and then answered questions for the judge before lining up and receiving their ribbons.

In the senior division Alan Chojnacky received the grand champion ribbon while, Alesha Evans and Elsie Brown received the grand champion and reserve grand champion ribbons respectively, in the junior division.

In the beginners division, no reserve or grand champion was announced. Emma Turner and Emma Pavlik received red ribbons while Deriyan Sheehan and Jessica Bronner received purple ribbons.

The show then went to include a green horse - senior and junior showmanship among other competitions.

The parade took to the streets of Plains at 11 a.m., stretching over 20 minutes in length. Participants from mayoral candidates, to swing dancing clubs and churches, paraded their floats, while tossing candy to the many kids that lined the streets.

Sally Braun was named the Grand Marshal and was seen headed down the street in a snazzy car, flowers in hand. Braun was commemorated for her dedication to the Plains community as well as her love for children and the many volunteer hours she spends helping.

As thousands of people milled about the fairgrounds taking advantage of traditional fair food, children took advantage of the many games and rides set up behind the rodeo arena. Bill Tuttle has been working county fairs since 1953 and said he continues to enjoy his job providing entertainment to kids.

“There didn’t used to be a lot of kids games back in the day,” said Tuttle. “The games were mostly games of chance. We want the kids to have a good time so we brought in more games for them. Everyone wins a prize every time now.”

The more popular rides included the Typhoon which swung riders in a giant arc and the Yoyo which flung riders out wide over the fairgrounds on long chains attached to a center console. The ever-popular carousel treated kids to an up-and-down and around ride while smiling parents looked on.

In the early evening, special 4H awards were handed out during a banquet at the 4H hall for exceptional achievement. Awards for a wide variety of projects from those working with leather, photography, robotics and gardening amongst others were handed out to those in attendance. Live entertainment included a comedy skit and Logan Naegeli playing the bagpipes.

The rodeo on Saturday included two special presentations. The first began with veterans taking the arena in formation for the presentation of the Prisoner of War Medal to the family of World War II veteran Laddie Olson. Olson was captured by German forces and spent time as a prisoner of war.

State Representative Steve Daines presented a plaque and a folded American flag to the stepdaughter of Olson, Jeanne Crismore in front of family members and a packed arena.

The second presentation was in recognition of a staple in the Plains community. Plains School Secretary Sally Braun was presented with the Sanders County Community Service Award in front of a standing room only crowd at the rodeo arena. Braun waved to the audience as the announcer gave a brief speech outlining the many contributions she has made to the community during her 32 years as school secretary.

After the two presentations, the third night of rodeo provided plenty of action for the crowded arena. Anthony Thomas of West Australia competing in the saddle bronc event suffered a minor injury to the face when the horse he was riding reared up in the chute, knocking the cowboy backwards.

It was not clear when he suffered the injury or how severely he was wounded.

Much of the rest of the rodeo proceeded without incident and Thomas did return to compete in other events later in the evening.

Sunday at the fair began with the 4H market sale. Cows, pigs and lambs were paraded around the 4H arena for prospective buyers to examine and bid upon. As 4H participants said goodbye to the animals they had raised and cared for, auctioneers sold the animals to their new owners.

The final auction of the market sale was a somber but special event. The last pig up for sale belonged to Jake Legard who was killed along with his grandmother Kathy Legard and Kathy’s granddaughter Peytan Yoder in an automobile accident on June 14 of this year.

The sale was set up as a fundraiser for a memorial scholarship. For at least six rounds as members of the family stood by near the barn that bears Kathy’s name, the auctioneer sold Jake’s pig to a buyer. The buyers donated the pig back to the family and the sale began again raising $7,950 dollars for the scholarship fund. Jake and Kathy Legard were both avid participants in 4H activities.

As festivities at the 2013 Sanders County Fair wound down, there was one more event Sunday evening that had the rodeo arena filled to capacity. Instead of riding horses and flying off bulls, contestants in the demolition derby rode their metal steeds into the arena for a ballet and spectacle of men, women, machines, mud and smoke.

Around 30 entries took turns smashing into each other and the barricades that kept them safely away from the audience. Derby participants drove circles around each other before gaining some amount of speed and colliding sometimes head on in an attempt to disable other cars.

After numerous heats and categories entered the rings, three victories were had. Jerry Johnson won first place in the built class, followed by Lonnie Keller in second and Dan Stark in third. Jim Welter took home the first place prize for the 80s and newer category while Katie Dumonte pulled a victory in the powderpuff division.

As the last night of the fair resumed, attendees milled along in the carnival section, riding rides and getting their last fix of fair treats before heading home.