Adams County Fair Kicks Off
The Adams County Fair began on Monday, July 21st and culminates on Saturday July 26th. According to Fair Board President, Caleb Shumway, it has been a yearly event since 1904.
He and the other board members, Ron Corbett, Tyler Shelton, and Charlie Vaselka were appointed by the county commissioners. Much of their duties is maintaining the fairgrounds.
The woman in charge of the FFA and 4-H events, which started for the viewing public on Tuesday July 22, is Tyanne Rolland, who works closely with other 4-H and FFA leaders in the county, including Hope Zollman, Trista Robbins, and New Meadows leader Rachel Reynaga. Rolland is the Adams County Extension Educator for the University of Idaho.
On Monday, the judges, who are paid and who are typically from nearby counties, sat down with each of the participants to review their journals and expenses and notes about the year they spent raising their animal. Those notes and journals can be seen in the Exhibit Hall.
On Tuesday, July 22nd, events became open to the public. The horse show was held at 8:00 a.m. and included free style reining, showmanship and equitation.
Roland said this year they have more kids participating than they have in a number of years.
On Wednesday, the small animal group showed their animals starting at 9:00 a,m. This group included chickens, rabbits, turkeys, and ducks, dogs and cats. Some will be auctioned off later in the week; others will be kept by the kids who raised them.
This year, for the first time one student is showing bees; they can be seen at the exhibit hall, where their hive is enclosed in a plexi-glass container.
On Thursday, the swine show will be held at 9:00 a.m. and directly following that will be the lamb show.
On Friday, the beef show, including steers, cows and calves, and market steers will start at 9:00 a.m. and the goat show will follow.
On Saturday, the large animal round robin starts at 9:00 a.m. In this event, all winners in large animal showmanship must show each of the other winner’s large animals. The winner of this contest will be able to participate in the Ada County Fair.
The market animal auction will take place at 11:00 a.m..
The exhibit hall is set up to display various homemade jams and jellies, sewing, knitting, and crocheted items, flowers and other crafts. Judges are local volunteers and do not see the name of the person whose item they are judging. The hall will be closed for half a day on Thursday to allow judges to award ribbons.
