The Moody County Fair theme was about rounding up the memories, but for participants, it was focused on making new memories.
For Olivia Lopez Jauregui, 10, that means getting together with friends she sees at the fair each year. Last year, she and a friend competed in 4-H baby beef together; this year, they are bringing the animals back for the steer show.
“I have a lot of friends that I show with,” she said. The member of the Golden Pheasants 4-H Club also shows in a lot of contests, competing in companion animals, rabbits, beef, dairy, sheep and goats, along with entering static exhibits.
Kyle Bares, 14, from the Sodbuster’s club, gave Lopez Jauregui some pointers before the rabbit showmanship competition because he wanted her to know some of the things the judge would look for. “I remember being a beginner and having no idea what I was doing,” he said. His goal is to be overall showmanship champion in rabbits some year. He came close this year but also understands the other benefits of 4-H. “The accomplishments that can be made and the satisfaction you can get from those.”
The Moody County Fair started July 24 and continued through Saturday. The annual event included a parade, a community barbeque, a band concert, a free supper, toilet bowl races and 4-H shows.

The half-hour long parade had 42 entries, including emergency vehicles that stretched more than two blocks.
Winners from this year’s parade entries were: Kountry Kids 4-H Club for best depiction of the parade theme, Dakota Culture Club for most beautiful, Flandreau Santee Sioux Domestic Violence for most original, the Flandreau Aquatic Center for best hitch, the Moody County 4-H riders for best horse and rider, the Happy Youngsters 4-H Club for best youth, Harold Schoeneman for best vintage vehicle, Kevin Anderson for best vintage tractor, and the Moody County Courthouse for most humorous and for judges choice.
Courthouse staff dressed in vintage clothing and unlike the 150th celebration parade when maintenance worker Scott Lewis was sitting in an outhouse at the back of the float, this time he was taking a bath. Bubbles escaladed out of the tub and down the street when the float passed.
Judges for the parade were Jason Unger, Samuel and Jessica Rubenstein, and Chantelle Blue Arm.
4-H, the fair and family friends allowed Alexyss LaDeaux to try something new this year. It is the 15-year-old’s first year in 4-H and she showed dairy cattle with the help of the Scherff family of Trent.
She was the only contestant in senior dairy showmanship and was reserve champion in the Holstein heifer show.
“It’s really fun. You have to know your cow and know what to do,” she said. She has spent a couple days a week for four months working with the heifers.
“You learn responsibility for raising the cows,” she said. “You also learn hard work.”
See fair photos on page 11.