Angela Brandt Havre Daily News abrandt@havredailynews.com
This year’s Blaine County Fair will feature participants of all ages riding an assortment of outfits and animals for cash and prizes. The events kick off today with the kids’ rodeo at 5 p.m. More than 100 kids will compete in barrel racing, mutton bustin’ and a slew of other events. Entrance to the rodeo is $5 for adults, and children 6 years old and under get in free. The midway, which includes a ferris wheel, a gigantic slide and the zipper, also will be open this evening. The fair, which is free to all, will close on Sunday with a demolition derby. “Our derby is looking awesome,” fair manager Suzanne Berger said today. Berger said the derby has about 25 drivers so far and expects more by the entrant cut-off time at 5 p.m. Sunday. She said flyers for the derby have been plastered all over the state and she expects to have quite a few people from out of the area and possibly out of the state. One of the main draws for derby drivers is the $5,000 first-place purse. Second place will earn $2,000, and $1,000 will go to the third-place winner.
Pre-sale tickets for Sunday night’s demolition derby are available at the fair office for $8 per adult, $6 for kids 6 to 11 years old and children 6 and younger get in free. The derby is set to start at 6 p.m. A lawn mower race is set for noon on Sunday in the arena. Winners of the bring-yourown- mower race will receive trophies. If all that riding and gawking leaves you famished and needing to wet your whistle, vendors will be selling assorted goods including scones, Indian tacos, hamburgers and pronto pups. For those of legal drinking age, a beer garden will be open. Friday’s entertainment will be an open rodeo at 8 p.m. featuring classic events including bull riding and team roping. The wrangling will cost $8 for adults, $5 for kids 6 to 11 and children under 6 watch for free. An open barrel racing competition also will be held on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. Country music band Ricochet will play in the grandstand on Saturday night. The band, comprised of five vocalists, is best known for their No. 1 hit “Daddy’s Girl.” Their harmonies have earned the band recognition including being named “Best New Vocal Group” by both the Academy of Country Music and Billboard Magazine.
Pre-sale tickets for the show are available at Ace Hardware in Chinook and at the fair office at a price of $12 for adults, $8 for children 6 to 11. Kids under the age of 6 get in free. Saturday also will be the day of the livestock show, which begins at 2 p.m. “It’s going to be a really good fair. Our barns are full with animals,” Berger said.
