OK Solberg: 00:00

I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Is it hot enough out there for you? Get your tall cool glass of lemonade. Find a shady spot. Let's see what's happening out there.

OK Solberg: 00:10

Spring wheat $6.48 a bushel. 550lb steer calf. You can contract them for $5.15 a pound on the top end for fall delivery. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.15 all the way up to $3.30 a pound. Hasn't moved much in several months. But, guys, there's more, much more.

OK Solberg: 00:36

Okay. Okay. Are you going to the Dodson Fair? You can't miss the fair, can you? Now, guys, I'm gonna pull up an old episode that I did some time ago to honor the fair in Phillips County. The fair in Dodson, Montana called the Phillips County Fair.

OK Solberg: 00:57

And if you know your history, the reason Dodson got the Fair is because Malta got the Courthouse. Right? And fair is fair even when it comes to the Fair.

OK Solberg: 01:07

Here's what I wrote back in August 2021. Yeah. Did you make it up to the Phillips County Fair in Dodson, Montana? I hope you did, and I hope you had yourself a good time. I went up early Saturday morning and had a wonderful pancake scrambled egg, sausage kind of free breakfast.

OK Solberg: 01:29

Now as good as the food was and the food was good, the Phillips County Fair is about visiting with the people. Imagine how sad a situation it would be if there were no people at the fair. Pretend it's a Twilight Zone episode and you're at the fair in Dodson, The carnival rides are moving.

OK Solberg: 01:54

The air is heavy with the aroma of cotton candy. The 4H stand has a hamburger waiting for you with fried onions. Yet there is no one there. You were all alone. Wow. That'd be freaky. And when we think about it in that way, we do realize the food and the animals and the rides add flavor to the fair, but it's the people that make it joyful.

OK Solberg: 02:24

There I end the quote from 2021. It's the people that make the Dodson fair. So go up and support it. Meet your neighbors and listen to some history. The Phillips County Fair in Dodson, Montana, it's the state's longest continuously operating county fair, and it's been in operation every year since 1915.

OK Solberg: 02:49

That's even before World War I. It never missed a year since 1915. It ran through major historical events, including World War I, World War II, the 1918 flu epidemic didn't even shut it down nor did the great depression or even COVID -19.

OK Solberg: 03:13

Never missed a year. When it celebrated its 100th year anniversary, I found this article that read, Centennial milestone celebrated a 100 continuous years in 2015 famously marked by local rancher, Everell Homan, attending his 100th consecutive fair having been brought as an infant in 1915.

OK Solberg: 03:40

So this is the 111th year that the fair has been going on and its most recent setback. You remember, it happened in 2022, just 4 years ago when a windstorm tore the roof off the grandstand. But even that year, the fair continued with temporary seating provided. And guys, now we have a brand new grandstand and you need to examine it. I'll make a prediction.

OK Solberg: 04:08

In another a 111 eleven years, that grandstand will still be standing. It's built like a brick outhouse with steel and rebar and concrete. It's gonna be there even a hundred and eleven years from now. So I'm gonna see you at the Dodson fair.

OK Solberg: 04:28

I'll close with a bible verse from Proverbs 27:23 and I find it fitting for the fair. Know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds. Again, Proverbs 27 verse 23.

OK Solberg: 04:45

You have to check out the livestock barn. If you wanna see some herds that have been well tended, you look at the sheep, the fat beef, the pigs, and all the livestock at the Dodson Fair. Congratulations to all the students with livestock entries. What a good showing.

OK Solberg: 05:06

So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.