August in Utah and Idaho is a time for county fairs. Unfortunately I missed one of my favorites
last week, the Duchesne County Fair. As
part of the fair this year, Duchesne County celebrated 100 year anniversary of
its founding. This included a song
written and performed by Charley Jenkins honoring Duchesne County. I won’t lie; I may have felt a bit emotional
as he talked about each of the county’s high school mascots. Here’s a link to the video:
It’s interesting to note that while our family moved there
in 1979, a Van Wagoner played a significant role in the creation of Duchesne
County. In 1913, William L. Van Wagoner
of Wasatch County, a member of the state legislature, sponsored an amendment to
the state constitution authorizing the creation of new counties. The amendment was introduced specifically to
allow for the creation of Duchesne County.
While I didn’t make it to the Duchesne County Fair this
year, I did make it to the Oneida County Fair in Malad, Idaho. My oldest son showed a pig this year as part
of the 4-H program. In the past we’ve
watched him and my two older daughters show and sell lambs and pigs. Before that I watched as my wife’s brothers
and sister showed and sold lambs, pigs, and steers at the fair. For over 30 years my father-in-law, as the
University of Idaho County Extension Agent, he ran the county 4-H
program—needless to say the fair is a deeply ingrained part of life for my
wife’s family.
This year we arrived on Wednesday night, the day before the
pig show. My wife and I slept outside
under the stars, as we like to do, just in time to see the amazing Perseids
meteor shower. Living in the Vegas
Valley we don’t get to see many stars in the night sky. In the span of the twenty minutes I managed
to keep my eyes open, I counted over a dozen meteors streaking across the Milky
Way.
My son had a good year showing his pig. He and this year’s pig were much more
prepared than he was last year. He came
in number three for showmanship in his class.
Unfortunately, his pig barely made weight so he got a red ribbon for
quality—a source of embarrassment for his grandfather. The auction is tomorrow. We’ll see if he can match the $900 plus he
made from his pig last year.
Thursday afternoon we had to bring in the flock of ewes so
that twenty of them could go to the rodeo for the mutton busting. Anyone who has ever tried to herd sheep, know
that they can be contrary. In the end I
managed to get all thirty of them to follow me while shaking a bucket with just
a few cups of grain. I felt like a
political candidate from the Democrat Party—a large group following based on
the hope and promise of something insufficient to provide any relief and that
actually ended up with them in servitude—but I digress.
For a number of deep-seated reasons, I always get emotional
at the beginning of a rodeo, when Old Glory comes streaming into the arena on
horseback. I feel a deep sense of love
for my country and the power of the small, close-knit communities that make
this country great. To properly
celebrate the event, we bought hamburgers and fries right there on the rodeo
grounds. It’s hard to beat the taste of
fair burgers.
Two things made the night memorable. First, was the Calcutta auction as part of
the stock saddle event. In the Calcutta
auction, the person who bids on and wins the winning rider wins 60% of the
funds raised through the bidding process.
The person who wins the second place rider wins 40% of the pot. A number of the riders were well known for
their skills or were local riders. As a
result, they each managed to bring in anywhere from $60 to $120. One rider, Anthony Brown, was receiving no
bids—he was an unknown commodity. In an
act of confidence, he placed a $25 bid on himself. Nobody tried to outbid him and he won the
marker for his ride, a chance at the pot that totaled just over $600.
Anthony Brown came out as the fifth rider and scored 84
points, a score that would not be beat.
Mr. Brown paid $25 in the winning bid on himself when nobody else
believed in him. He walked away with an
additional $400 in his pocket because of his belief in his abilities. There is a powerful lesson in that.
Second, at the end of the rodeo we found we had an
interesting companion with us as a spectator.
I took his picture (below). He looked
back at me just as intently as I looked at him.
Next month my father-in-law will be the Grand Marshall for the
Eastern Idaho State Fair. Here’s to many
more fairs and many more rodeos and the celebration of a wonderful way of
life.
