It’s August, and that means it’s fair time. Once again, both the Murray County Fair and the Lyon County Fair will coincide with each other, as they both officially start on Aug. 12. The good news is, both fairs offer plenty of unique events and attractions, so while it might take some extra driving, both are worth attending.
One of the big attractions in Slayton this year will be the Remembering Our Fallen Traveling Tribute Wall. The wall will be on display throughout the fair, and a closing ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15.
The wall is a photographic war memorial that honors our country’s military fallen from the Global War on Terror (9/11/20018/30/2021). It also includes those who died in training accidents, whether stateside or overseas, as well as those who served in the combat zone during this time, but succumbed to PTSD.
In Marshall at the Lyon County Fair, the carnival begins at 5 p.m. on Aug. 12, and the Ralco Enrichment Center opens at that time as well. The PRCA rodeo is at 7 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday, with the demolition derby following on Saturday.
“We have to compete with other rodeos; we do Thursday and Friday because a lot of them that weekend are Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” said Jeremy Trulock, who has worked closely with the PRCA Rodeo for years. “When I say ‘compete,’ — we have to have to competitors come to us.”
That’s just part of the work and organization that goes into putting on a major rodeo.
“A lot of people might think we just put up some arena panels and hopefully people come,” Trulock said. “We’ve been working the grounds for weeks now; we’ve been getting sponsors since January — people might not know the rodeo costs us $50,000 to come in for two days. We get sponsorships to add money to get the contestants to come.”
Aug. 15 is Senior Citizen’s Day and starts with a pancake breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The Community Connections Program begins at 10:30 a.m.
