Catron County Fair

Breakfast at the Catron County Fair starts at six. On each fair morning from Thursday through Saturday, pancakes are served from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. at the Catron County Fair Grounds & Rodeo Arena on Highway 12 in Reserve. The 2026 fair ran August 19th through 23rd, Wednesday to Sunday. The Fair Association marks its schedule “subject to change of events, times, days, etc.” and heads every page with “Celebrating the Youth and Community of Catron County!”

Four days in the show ring

Wednesday belongs to the exhibitors. Entries go into the fair building in the afternoon, livestock are weighed in, and poultry and rabbits are checked in. Judging begins Thursday. The poultry show is at 10:30 a.m. and the rabbit show follows it. The pet show is at 1:00, goats and goat showmanship at 2:00, and market beef and breeding heifers at 5:00. An enchilada dinner runs from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Inside the fair building, the 4-H exhibit hall is judged at 12:30 p.m. Thursday under superintendent Katharine Yellowhair. Awards go to the high point and second high point individuals, and 4-H members are urged to enter as many projects as they can because each one earns points. Vendors set up inside the building, on its porch, and in the open areas outside.

Friday opens with the swine show at 8:00 a.m., followed by the lambs. Round robin showmanship is at 11:00, the pee wee livestock show at noon, and adult showmanship in the show ring at 1:00. Saturday’s awards ceremony is at 8:00 a.m. The junior livestock sale follows at 10:00, then a barbecue lunch sponsored by Summa Silver. Buyers can pay by credit card, with a fee, for an animal or for sale-day add-ons. The Association lists other ways to back the county’s youth: adding money to an animal’s sale price, or giving to a local buyers club. The schedule shuts the gates on early departures: “NO VENDORS, EXHIBITS or ANIMALS RELEASED BEFORE 5:00PM!!!”

The 2022 results, printed by John Larson in El Defensor Chieftain, name the winners. Shaylee Padilla showed the grand champion steer and was senior showman and senior herdsman in that division. She also took county-bred beef grand champion, on an animal bred by Tommy Padilla of 911 Land & Cattle Co. Taylor McQueen showed the grand champion heifer and the reserve steer. Weston Carver had the grand champion market swine, Audie Finch the market lamb, and Levi Becker the market goat. In the hall, Jeanette Jackson won quilts, Hope Bennett baked goods, Kian McKeen best of show, and Kreeden Norton the sale ring cake. Larson reported a “very well-attended” junior livestock auction that year, a barbecue donated by Williams Ranch Supply, and a goat roping on Saturday afterward.

Bronc riding, ranch teams, and buckles

The arena takes over Friday at 4:00 p.m. with junior and open ranch bronc riding, and the ranch rodeo follows immediately. Teams are four riders. Each must wear a long-sleeve western shirt, a cowboy hat, and boots at all times in the arena; chaps are optional, and hats “cannot be intentionally knocked off.” The 2026 sponsor list names a backer for each event: sorting, branding, doctoring, and stray gathering. After each run, a team follows its cattle back to the stripping chutes.

The rules, posted by superintendent Misty Werkman, ask contestants to “treat the cattle as if they were your own.” The price of any harmed animal comes out of the payout. Spectators are warned that the announcer’s calls “may or may not reflect the final decision of the judges.” On conduct, the rules say: “We are representing our heritage and way of life and should do so with respect and manners.” Bunny Ranch won the 2022 ranch rodeo, ahead of Hat Creek Cattle Co and The Goods.

The junior rodeo runs Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in four age groups: 6 and under, 7–10, 11–14, and 15–18. It follows the rule book of the Southwest Rodeo Association. Buckles go to the all-around boy and girl in each group, and a contestant must enter two or more events to qualify. The rules end in capitals: “THE DECISION OF ANY JUDGE, FLAGMAN, OR TIMER WILL BE FINAL. PROTESTS BY CONTESTANTS, PARENTS, OR SPECTATORS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED.” In 2022, Bo McQueen was all-around cowboy, 6 and under, and high point in the 8-and-under horse show. The results add, “No All Around for Cowboy 15-18.”

Goat roping follows at 5:00 on Saturday, and the dance runs from 8:00 to midnight. Sunday begins with cowboy church at 8:00 a.m., then barrel racing and team roping at 9:00.

A queen, a princess, and a junior miss

The fair’s royalty court represents it at parades and community gatherings through the year. Girls in grades 3 through 12 compete in three divisions. They may show horsemanship, give an agricultural demonstration, perform on stage, or interview. The 2026 contest was held June 27th, with Kelci Hutton as coordinator.

The 2026 queen is Aspen Hendricks, 15, daughter of Tim and Becca Hendricks of Quemado. She gathers cattle and plans to become a large animal veterinarian. The princess is her sister Sage, 12, who shows goats, hunts, bakes, and hopes to study at Texas A & M to become a neurologist. The junior miss, Davianna Silva, is 6, homeschooled in Reserve, and a returning PeeWee swine showman. Her court page says she thinks the fair “will be lots of fun and will show everyone the proper royalty wave!”

The fifty-fifth fair and a Glenwood rancher

In August 2010, the Mountain Mail of Magdalena, a paper founded in 1888, reported that the 55th Catron County Fair was “celebrating the youth of our county” over five days, Wednesday through Sunday. Fair coordinator Lisa Way listed the food: “There will be funnel cakes, smoothies, fry bread, nachos, curly fries, barbeque, and many other foods for sale.” The fair had 40 more vendors than before. Crafts, 4-H, horticulture, art, clothing, fiber arts, and preserved foods filled a new building. “We even have a mechanical bull this year,” Way said.

The 2010 program ran to a western dance, a pancake breakfast, a barbecue, an enchilada dinner, the junior livestock sale, an NMRA rodeo, the junior rodeo, and team roping. Bobby Salvo was board president and superintendent of the junior rodeo and arena activities. Five of the fifteen board members had barbecue duty. Twelve years later, Larson’s report called the fair the 67th annual.

Two of those barbecue superintendents, Tim Klumker and Kathleen Schuster, share names with two of the six children listed in Georgia Klumker’s 2011 obituary in the New Mexico Stockman. She was born in Yampa, Colorado, in 1918 and married Kelly Klumker in 1936. The couple ranched in Colorado for 36 years before moving to Glenwood in 1974, where they bought two ranches in the Alma area and retired in 1987. She was a 4-H leader for more than 30 years and a director on the Catron County Fair Board. The obituary says she loved showing her horses at local fair and competitions. She died October 20, 2011, at 92.

The board now runs under president Arden Ward and posts its agendas and minutes with the county. The fair’s own page lists the 2027 dates as to be determined.