Local involvement sought for county fair
Area residents are invited to participate in events at Marion County Fair to be held Aug. 7-10.
Activities include the parade, demolition derby, rodeo events, horseshoe tournament, and women's ranch rodeo.
For entry forms or additional information on any event, call the fair office in Hillsboro at (620) 947-2585 or visit the office at 109 South Main.
The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7. This year's theme is "Let Freedom Soar at the Fair."
It will start on Hillsboro's Main Street at Third and travel south to D, then turn west to the fairgrounds. Open-class and 4-H entries are encouraged to participate with floats, also commercial entries, antique vehicles, demolition derby cars, bands, queens, and public officials.
Pre-registration is not required.
Entries will be judged on best use of the theme, composition, and presentation. Church, civic, and individual floats can earn prize money from $7.50 to $20. Bicycle, dog, cat, and pony entries can earn between $3 and $7.
Entry slots still are available for the popular demolition derby, to be held Aug. 10. Drivers from Harvey, Butler, McPherson, Chase, Morris, Dickinson and Marion counties are welcome.
Entrants are assigned to one of four preliminary heats. Two winners in each heat receive $100 and trophies. Other contestants are eligible to compete in one or two consolation heats, where the top two finishers each receive $100 and a trophy.
The championship heat will feature the winners of the preliminary and consolation heats. The top five finishers receive cash prizes ranging from $100 to $600. Trophies go to the top three finishers.
Local entries for the rodeo Aug. 8 and 9 include bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, team roping, calf roping, steer wrestling, and bull riding.
The first women's ranch rodeo debuts Aug. 7. Four-person team events include trailer loading, calf doctoring, team sorting, and calf branding. Signup deadline is July 24. Entry fee per team is $200 with prizes awarded to winners. For more information, call Chuck McLinden at (620) 878-4518.
Children's rodeo activities include Muttin' Bustin' for those one to six, mini-bull riding for 7 to 10-year-olds, and a calf scramble.
Horseshoe tournament starts at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at the southeast corner of the fairgrounds, adjacent to Memorial Park. Anyone can enter, including those with little or no experience. Participants will be divided into three classes based on throwing percentage. Prize money is awarded to the top three finishers in each class.
Preregistration is not required. For more information, contact Wayne Hoffman at (620) 382-2696.
