State Fair Underway; local kids bring home ribbons

Kelly Sorensen provides some last minute advice to Shelby Sorensen at Saturday’s Horse Show.

The Eastern Idaho State Fair kicked off on Friday for its yearly surfeit of fried food, sugar, motor sports, rodeo, and music, as well as the 4-H and Open Class competitions that are at the heart of the event. As always, some of the 4-H participants from the county will make their way to Blackfoot for a variety of pursuits. By the time this edition hits the stands, a number of the major events will have taken place, though a number of livestock shows will still remain for Thursday and Friday. We will bring you results when they are finalized at the end of the week.

This year’s featured concert is the band Journey, which is just one of the many potential draws to Bingham County. 4-H and FFA entries from all the county’s participants are on display in the exhibit halls, and many local participants also have photography, art, baking, handcraft, quilting, and other displays throughout the fair.

During the first days of competition at the Fair, several 4-H kids from Malad had amazing results in both the Horse show and Dog show events.

Eva Coleman took first place in Junior Showmanship, as well as first place in Phase II Pre-Novice Obedience, which is an outstanding result.

Kennadee Thomas had a top tier run as well. After placing third in the Rally Novice Class, she moved on to take first in Phase I Beginner Class A Obedience, and ultimately Grand Champion overall in Obedience. She also took first place in Intermediate Showmanship for her class, as well as Reserve Champion Showman. Congratulations to Eva and Kennadee on a fantastic job executing at such as high level!

In the Horse events, Shelby Soresen took sixth place in junior Showmanship, and Samantha Schrenk took third place in snaffle bit second year. BriElle Ferree successfully auctioned her mustang Oscar at the BLM Wild Mustang auction.

Congratulations are also in order to all the participants of the contests so far, as well as those to come later in the week. Summoning the courage to compete in front of large, unfamiliar crowds is impressive enough, but Oneida county’s kids have once again proved that they are at the top of the pack when it comes to their skills.

The other main draw of the fair is of course the food, and here are this year’s winners of the Best Fair Food Competition, judged by local media, ahem.

2024 Winners

Fairest Of Them All - Sweet

1. Creamy Creations - Better At The Fair Cake

2. Sweet Temptations - The Peach Temptation

3. Creamy Creations - Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownie

Fairest Of Them All - Entrée

1. Blackhawk BBQ Pit - Hog On A Log

2. CR Fish & Things - Sample Platter

3. Smoking B’s - Whole Damn Farm

Best New Sweet

1. Sweet Temptations - The Devils Delight

2. Creamy Creations - Strawberry Butter Cake