Fair kicks off Saturday with horse show

The 2022 Hot Springs County Fair, “Country Days, American Ways” will be kicking off this Saturday with the Peewee, 4-H and FFA Youth Horse Show at the fairgrounds beginning at 8 a.m.

Starting next Monday, Aug. 1, youths will be showing dogs, cats, rabbits, poultry, goats, sheep, swine and beef throughout the week, as well as showing off their shooting sports talents and 4-H and FFA projects. Open class exhibits will also be displayed throughout the week in the Fair Building.

Thermopolis FFA Alumni is sponsoring a Ranch Rodeo at the fairgrounds on Tuesday, Aug. 2 beginning at 6 p.m.

Family Fun night will fill the grassy area East of the show barn on Wednesday, Aug. 3 beginning at 7 p.m. There will be games, inflatables, food and more.

On Thursday, Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. bring your appetite to the Chili Cook Off in the MP Building to sample a variety of chili and vote for your favorite.

Friday, Aug. 5 will begin with the round robin competition at 10 a.m., followed by the Parade of Champions at 1 p.m. The Judges’ Choice Silent Auction Bake Sale will begin at 5 p.m. in the MP Building. A pre-sale buyers dinner will be in the picnic area next to the MP Building at 6 p.m., and the week’s activities will wrap up with the Junior Livestock Auction at 7 p.m.

See page 5 of this paper for a complete fair schedule.

Online bidding available

The Junior Livestock Auction next Friday at the fairgrounds will include online bidding provided by Premier Online Sales. Fair Board member Will Farrell announced these changes and wants to help inform the public of this additional option. Farrell explained that in the past auctions they used volunteer auctioneers and that “we appreciate the volunteers past, but we are moving forward to offer an online option.” Farrell simply said the change is there will be a video live stream feed for bidding on the auction.

Farrell added, “Especially with COVID and stuff that we’ve dealt with people not wanting to be there in person, but they can still participate in the auction by being online.” 

Regarding the rising cost of food prices, Farrell said, “with the cost of everything right… this is a good place to fill your freezer. And you’re supporting the youth, but also you’re really not going to be out too much because the cost of the commodities at the grocery store right now is very high, anyway. You can go down here and have the choice of what you’re getting. You’re getting high-quality meat for your freezer.”

Farrell also wants to remind and encourage participants that there are add-ons that allow money to be donated to the youth and do not involve buying an animal. These add-ons will be opened until Monday after the livestock sale. Farrell added, “if you have 100 bucks and you want to help a kid because they’re a good kid and they work hard at the project, but you don’t have the money to go buy the animal. You can go add on to any individual kids’ projects. It’s another way of donating to the kid.”

Farrell also provided a QR code image so that people who want to immediately access the County Fair Livestock sale can do their online bidding and watch the live stream. The hosting website is PremierOnlineSales.com.