Winners Shine at Ravalli County Fair Parade

Hamilton's Main Street had hundreds of people watching the 2021 Ravalli County Fair Parade Wednesday morning. The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce organized the annual celebratory opening of the fair and hundreds of people, young and old, lined the parade route.

Winners in the parade categories were:

• Ravalli County Museum - Clubs and Organizations
• Karen Meier's "Small Town America" small Conestoga wagon-Adult Novelty
• Blodgett View Christian School - Churches and Schools
• Tired Iron Club's Darrel Sperry - Restored Antique Machinery
• Tired Iron Club's Fred Gross - Unrestored Antique Machinery
• Floyd Baker's 1931 Ford Victoria - Vehicles - 1950 and older
• Blue Chip Restoration's 1956 GMC 4x4-Vehicles - 1950 and newer
• Mountain Peak Dental float - Commercial and Industry
• Ray Woodside's Potomac Mules - Horse-drawn
• Bitterroot Mountettes - Groups Mounted
• Alan Lackey - Individual Mounted

Many of the shiny cars and antique farm equipment are on display at the fair. The parade was organized by the Leadership Bitterroot class and staff of the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce. The lineup included high school sports teams, Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department's new ladder truck, emergency "first response" vehicles, bluegrass musicians, Republican and Democratic political groups, Ravalli County Fair Royalty contestants, a good gathering of antique cars and farm tractors and lots and lots of candy that was handed out along the parade route, including the parade-ending Donaldson Brothers' concrete truck "candy conveyer," a Ravalli County Fair Parade tradition.

The Ravalli County Fair continues through Saturday at the Hamilton fairgrounds. In the evenings, the rodeo events include Bull-A-Rama and bronc riding Thursday night and NRA-sanctioned rodeo events both Friday and Saturday nights. The general admission ticket to the fair includes admission to all rodeo events.