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A heartfelt special event held at the 2024 Columbia County Fair was a cinnamon roll baking contest, entered by about a dozen and a half contestants, in memory and in honor of long-time Extension Agent Roland Schirman, who died in March. Schirman was renowned for his baking abilities.
This junior barrel racer made the first barrel and spurs her horse on to the second in Friday rodeo action.
The demolition derby drivers gave the audience plenty of ear-splitting action, even jumping the concrete barricades to the crowd's delight.
Eric Haines, One Man Band
Eric Haines stalked around the Columbia County Fair as the World's Tallest Cowboy, and he was always searchin' for his giraffe. He struck up a conversation with Chett Cole, 8, and Charlene Cole, 9, and the next photo is from Haines's heightened point of view.
Chett Cole, 8, and Charlene Cole
Kaye Eaton exhibited the Sweepstakes Quilt.
Ventriloquist Jerry Breeden
DAYTON–Three days of sun, fun, livestock, fair food, rodeo action and flying demo cars marked the recently completed 2024 Columbia County Fair, which finished its three-day run last Sunday with slightly cooler conditions.
Exhibitors and establishments from Dayton and around Columbia County and beyond put their best foot forward, with a pavilion full of quilts, garden produce, fine art, arts and crafts, photography, and booths representing the wide arc of Columbia County's organizations, and barns full of beef cattle, swine, sheep, goats and poultry.
One new event this year was a Cinnamon Roll Baking Contest in honor of the late Roland Schirman, long-time Columbia County Extension Agent who died unexpectedly March 22, 2024. A dozen and a half local bakers entered their finest cinnamon rolls, honoring Schirman's smiling commitment to the community that will be hard to match in coming years.
A shiny new flag plaza was dedicated in Schirman's memory on the Fair's opening morning. The trio of flag poles will fly the United States, 4-H and FFA flags during future fairs and events. The plaza was contributed to by Charlie Barron and Family, Walla Walla Electric, Kyle's Custom Toys and Towing, Rock Hill Concrete-Roger Becker and Family, Dave's Classic Concrete, Columbia County Fair Association Board, Friends of the Fairgrounds and Barker, Inc.
The American flag flown this year was donated by Bryce Struckmeier in Memory of Melissa Harting. The 4-H flag was courtesy of Emmalee Cole and Family, and the Barnyard 4-H Club, in Memory of Roger Harting, and the FFA flag was from local FFA members, in Memory of Randy James.
"The weather was hotter than typical and possibly the cause for a slightly lower turnout," observed Fair Association President Matt Johnson. "Despite the lower turnout, the fair still had nearly a full set of bleachers for the rodeo and demo derby as well as a good turnout for our second annual Farmer Olympics on Sunday."
Johnson said the vendors seemed pleased with the business they did over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday fair days. "Eric Haines, Jerry Breeden, Smiles the Clown, and Rizzy the Camel all did a fine job entertaining fairgoers," he added. "The Pavilion, Youth Building, and barns were well organized and all the exhibitors' projects were well displayed. It seemed that the sale brought good prices this year as well."
Johnson gave credit to Fair Association board members and other volunteers who put in countless hours to setup and run this year's fair, and expressed appreciation to all the fair sponsors who make the show happen. "It couldn't be done without them," Johnson said. "It was a very smooth fair with only a few hiccups that were handled in due order."
