By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
On Wednesday, July 16, businesses from across Emery County gathered in Castle Dale City Hall for the Emery County Business Chamber’s monthly Lunch and Learn. Presenting at this meeting were Emery County Commissioner Jordan Leonard and members of the Emery County Fair Committee, who gave those in attendance a glimpse of what is coming to this year’s rendition of the fair, beginning on Tuesday, July 29.
Opening the presentation was Commissioner Leonard, who provided a brief logistic overview of the fair. “We’re right around 100 helpers for the county fair, with everything that’s going on. So, it’s great to see the community come out and want to be involved and do some pretty cool stuff.”
“The county has partnered with the business chamber to help us run the county fair,” added Leonard. “So we, the county, budget money, and we cut a check to the business chamber, and they help us with all the details with the county fair, and it helps us not only on the financial side, but the partnership side.”
Leonard then passed the mic to Suzanna Anderson, Emery County archives Director and head of the Frontier Days portion of the fair. “We have a lot of fun things scheduled and going on. We have the frontier village by the courthouse in the park. We will have black powder rifle demonstrations, knife and tomahawk throwing, primitive fire making, Flint knapping and wagon rides.”
She continued,” This year. Have the Red Spirit dance group. We were able to locate members of the Ute Tribe to come and sing and dance for us, and they will only be here for one performance.”
The said performance will be held on Wednesday, July 30, at noon.
Next to the podium was Misty Christiansen, who was there to share one of the newest events coming to the 2025 rendition of the fair – the Ranch Rodeo. “Ranch rodeos are wildly popular throughout the rest of the state and the rest of the country,” explained Christiansen. “You bring a team of ranch hands together from a working ranch, and have them perform some of the tasks that they do daily in front of an audience and for a little bit of money.”
The Battle of the Ranches Rodeo is free for spectators and will take place on Saturday, Aug. 2, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Castle Dale Arena.
Kevin Butler also addressed those in attendance, discussing the marketing side of the event,” I tried to focus on making everything unified across our advertising. So, whether it’s social media, print ads or banners, all of that looks the same. So, you’ve recognized us on social media and around town.
Butler added,” One of the big things this year is we have a digital guide online that has more details about the different events, our grand marshals and our sponsorships. It will constantly be updated with any changes or additional information that you need to know.”
The online fair guide is available at emerycountychamber.com.
Rounding out the presenters was Joyce Miya, playwright of the newly introduced ‘Echoes From the Past’ production. “This goes back to this Valley, when all the settlers came here,” explained Miya. “Each settler had their own story that came here. So, the part we’re going to do is try to portray some of these stories for you.”
In addition to the production, the event will feature a crossover with the ‘Echoes From the Past’ treasure hunt in the form of an opportunity drawing. Prizes include cash and a utility trailer.
‘Echoes From the Past’ will take place on Thursday, July 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the Castle Dale Arena.
For more information or to view a complete list of events, visit emerycountychamber.com or the Emery County Travel Bureau’s Life Energized Facebook page.