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Home > Archive > Aug 16, 2007

Iron County Fair Offers Something for Everyone
By Ashley Langston
Contributing Editor
The 2007 Iron County Fair kicked off Saturday, Aug. 11 with the Miss Iron County Pageant and will keep Iron County busy until Sept. 3, with the majority of events taking place Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.
This weekend will bring the Miss Rodeo Iron County Pageant, the Tour de Gap bicycle race and the demolition derby.
The following weekend will see a trail ride and mud bogs, and the next week will have a full schedule of activities for all ages and interests.
The theme of the fair is new this year and is "Remember Our Heritage."
Wendy Evans, fair secretary, said the area has a history the residents should be proud of.
"We just thought we wanted to get back to that and remind people what this community was founded on," she said.
Art Walunas, fair director, said on the Web site that the fair board tries to maintain the "pioneer" spirit and recognize the agricultural and rural way of life enjoyed in Southern Utah. They want to make the fair something everyone can enjoy.
"The Iron County Fair is Utah's 'Biggest Little Fair,' and we are proud to have you share all the fun, excitement, entertainment, activities and areas where the local citizens can show and display their varied talents to the community," Walunas said on the Web site. "We have tried to plan something for everyone to share in at the fair-the Iron County Fair is also a 'family affair' for everyone to enjoy."
Most events take place in Parowan at the fairgrounds. Parowan is the Iron County seat and it is the "mother town," or the first town settled in Iron County.
Most of the fair activities are traditional and have been done in years past. Evans said a new event this year is the Battle of the Bands, which will feature five bands from Southern Utah.
It is open to the public and will be judged. The winner will receive $500.
"Our idea was kind of to get the younger generation involved," Evans said.
The event will be Aug. 31 from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Entertainment Tent at the fairgrounds.
This weekend's activities will be a good way to help get the fair started, before the majority of the events are in full swing.
The Miss Rodeo Iron County Pageant will be Friday-Saturday, Aug. 17-18. The pageant horsemanship competition will be Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. in the fair arena. Saturday will be the indoor competition, luncheon and awards ceremony.
It will be open to the public for the onstage portion from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After a lunch break, the winners will be announced by County Commissioner Alma Adams.
Traci Von Kaenel, a pageant coordinator, said there are 11 young women running for rodeo queen, which is for ages 16 to 24, and seven running for princess, which is for ages 11 to 15.
The pageant is open to the public and free.
The Tour de Gap bicycle race will be Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 18-19. There are four stages that will test riders' endurance and speed. The Mammoth Creek Loop is the first stage of the race and participants will do a climbing ride at a high elevation, Lasse Bjerga, Tour de Gap director, said.
The second stage is the Airport Criterion, which is the most competitive stage and is only done by licensed riders. Those in the "citizen" division, which is for more beginning cyclists, will not participate in this stage, Bjerga said.
The last two stages are Sunday. The Time Trial is a 10-mile ride and all the cyclists will be timed. The Tour de Gap loop is a 56-mile ride. The winners will be determined by the accumulated times of all four stages.
Bjerga said there will be many riders who receive awards, because there are several different categories. The grand prize will be $5,000 and prizes.
He said he expects there will be about 200 participants, which is comparable to last year.
The demolition derby and mini car race will be Friday, Aug. 18 and organizer Drew Lathrop said they are hoping to have 25 to 30 cars, and would prefer even more.
There were only eight cars in last year's derby and to encourage more entries, the first 20 cars in the event will have free registration. They hope to build the derby up and encourage more enthusiasm about it, he said.
"Demolition derbies are a big part of the fairs going back for a long time," he said.
There are also mini car races in the derby, which is when smaller cars like Geo Prisms drive in a figure 8 and sometimes hit each other.
"Once in a while you get a good crash out of those," Lathrop said.
He said there was an excellent crowd last year and he hopes lots of cars will be there to entertain this year. He said everyone likes to come see the cars crash.
"This way you can do it legally and not have to pay the insurance bill," he said.

More information on the Iron County Fair is available at www.ironcounty.net/departments/fair or by calling the fair office at 477-8380.

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