The Southern Iowa Fair Wraps Up For 2021
The Queen and her Court at the Southern Iowa Fair & Exposition Monday night. Trisha Van Donselaar was crowd as Queen for 2021.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Southern Iowa Fair hosted 4H and FFA participants from all around Mahaska County this past week.
Vendors of all types were there to take part as well. You could check out the latest in farm technology to learning more from political parties to getting your much-needed fair food.
Sunday afternoon was the first major event with the Bill Riley Talent Show at 4 pm at the Free Stage.
Those winners in the “Sprouts” Division were:
1st place: Kalley Hudson Age 10
2nd place: Aubrey Rozenboom Age 11
3rd place: KJ Schrader Age 10
Kalley had already qualified to move on to the state competition, so Aubrey will also participate at the Iowa State Fair.
Winners in the “Seniors” Division were:
1st place: Rylie Shettler Age 21
2nd place: Teri Underhill Age 21
3rd place: Aliveah Brinegar Age 16
On Monday, the Southern Iowa Fair hit its stride with check-ins, interviews, and judging.
The Llama and Alpaca Show and the Dog Show took place in the Pavilion.
The Queen Contest was held at the Free Stage at 6 pm, and Trisha Van Donselaar was named the 2021 Southern Iowa Fair Queen.
The music-filled fair had its first concert with rising country star Adam Whitehead taking to the free stage following the queen contest.
In an interview earlier in the day, Whitehead spoke about his upcoming single, ‘The Way Whitley Done It.’ The song was in response to another recording session and the impact that experience made.
Whitehead also shared his story about how his move into country music started after his dad passed away and the conversation he had with him that there was one life to live. “Whatever you enjoy, go out and do it, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Whitehead made the leap into country music full time, and then just months later, the pandemic hit. With the help of local radio, he found success not only here in Iowa, but his music found its way to the top of the charts.
In an interview, Southern Iowa Fair Office Manager Erica Antolik said that the 4H and FFA kids spend all year preparing for the fair week.
They have been experiencing growth, and Antolik used the number of horses as an example. In the past couple of years, horses have grown from 20 to nearly 50 this year. “So our numbers are really growing.”
Tuesday was filled with exhibit judging for the various 4H and FFA projects.
The evening wrapped up with the Caleb Hammond Memorial Race.
We had a chance to catch up with Queen Trisha Van Donselaar on Tuesday.
“I’ve always wanted to be queen ever since I was a little girl,” said Van Donselaar, who had also just recently graduated from Oskaloosa High School.
“Just to be able to get involved and represent Mahaska County and get to know everybody here more,” Van Donselaar said.
Preparing for the Iowa State Fair is now going to consume much of Van Donselaar’s time.
She will have lots of help and advice from the current Iowa State Fair Queen, Hannah Koeller, who was the reigning Southern Iowa Fair queen until Monday night.
Missing was the carnival and midway attractions. The company hired to provide those services informed the fair board that they wouldn’t be there. Thankfully, local entrepreneurs John and Teresa Moses of Lazer Alley came to the rescue with their inflatables, giving area youth something extra to enjoy.
Jamey Robinson with Mahaska County Emergency Management also spoke about the popular ‘Water Monster’ located in front of the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Posse trailer.
The ‘Water Monster’ made a cold drink of water available to anyone who wanted or needed it, courtesy of the Mahaska County CERT Team.
In all, well over 2000 pounds of ice was fed to the ‘Monster’ to help keep everyone hydrated over the week of the fair.
The Pavilion was a busy place on Wednesday as multiple shows took place there.
As the evening set in, the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Reserve and Posse served their annual fundraiser meal. The organization sold out of all available meals, helping them to have a successful evening.
The Impact Pro Wrestling show took place in the Pavilion and was free to the community to watch.
Thursday continued a busy fair, with more shows taking place in the Pavilion and the Farm Bureau sponsoring a BBQ at the Free Stage.
We had a chance to speak with Ganon, who showed goats and pigs during the fair and won several accolades in goats. He said that showing animals at the fair “is kinda in the family,” and he’s following in his father’s footsteps.
We honestly had so much fun talking to several different 4H and FFA participants during the fair—each of them shared their story of why they choose the animals they do.
Out at the Arena, the Tuff N Nuff Miniature Rodeo took place.
Cookie stacking, pet show, and lego’s filled the Free Stage with activities during the day on Friday.
We also got to catch up with Ephraim Van Zante, who had success during the poultry contest at the fair. He said that raising poultry wasn’t the only thing he enjoyed, as he was showing his bottle calf and displaying his welding skills which he intends to take to the Iowa State Fair.
Midnight Blue Country Band played at the Free Stage starting at 5 pm, which lead up to rock legends Great White who performed at the Grandstand.
The end of the fair was in sight on Saturday, with the kids pedal tractor pull always a big attraction at the Free Stage.
The finale to the Southern Iowa Fair was the Country Music Star Joe Nichols at the Grandstand.
By Sunday, the animals and other projects had departed the fair, and a gospel concert was the last event for the 2021 Southern Iowa Fair.
You can find out more about upcoming events at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds by visiting them at their website – https://southerniowafair.com/index.html
