Blaine County Fair starts today

Don Richman has memories of the Blaine County Fair that span decades. As a child and later a teenager, he fondly remembers looking forward to the 20 mile drive from his family’s ranch in Harlem to the fairgrounds in what he jokingly refers to as “the big city” of Chinook.

“As a kid, it was fun for me to watch the rodeo,” he said. “I was born on a ranch, and ranch kids love rodeo.”

This year, however, Richman, an insurance agent and former Republican candidate for the Montana State Senate, is much more than a spectator. As president of the Blaine County Fair Board of Directors, he is tasked with leading the efforts to organize and orchestrate the four days of events which start today.

Richman, who has represented Harlem on the board for the last eight years, took over at the request of his fellow members after the organization’s previous president, George Ortner, passed away in April 2014. This year the fair will be dedicated to Ortner and fellow past president William Ammen who died in January. Both men each spent nearly four decades serving on the board.

The fair’s events begin tonight with the kid’s rodeo and continue throughout the week. It continues Friday night with performances by country music sensation Two Way Crossing and opening act Bad Larry’s, then a demolition derby Saturday night. The fair winds down Sunday with a pig wrestling contest, as well as the Milk River Challenge rodeo, among a host of other activities.

Typical of county fairs, events involving the 4-H will have a presence. Its young members, in addition to running the 4-H Chuckwagon, will be exhibiting their projects during the week and selling their market animals at the 4-H livestock sale Sunday. Contestants will be able to submit livestock they have reared, crops they have grown and crafts they have created; the end result of months of toiling.

One of the biggest accomplishments of this year’s fair, in Richman’s view, is the increased participation by members of the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the fair’s festivities. Over the course of the final three days of the events both tribes will partake in several activities including teepee erecting and flag raising ceremonies, a pet and doll parade and traditional dancing as well as storytelling.

Having played an intricate role in reaching out to different constituencies across the county and organizing the exhibitions, Richman feels its the desire to be inclusive that makes the Blaine County Fair such a success.

“There’s something for everyone there I feel,” said Richman. “I think we’ve got one of the best fairs in the Hi-Line.”

Blaine County Fair Schedule

Today

4-H entry day

Kids Rodeo, 4 p.m.

Friday

Teepee raising, noon

Concert: Two Way Crossing, 7 p.m .; opening act Bad Larry’s

Traditional Native American storytelling, 8 p.m.

Saturday

Traditional Native dancing, 4 p.m.

Blaine County Showdown Demolition Derby, 5 p.m.

Sunday

4-H livestock sale, 1 p.m.

Pig wrestling, 4 p.m.

Milk River Challenge rodeo, 7 p.m.

For more information and a complete listing of events,you can go to http://www.blainecountyfair.net