Sherman County Fair

On the Wednesday of fair week the livestock scales at the Sherman County Fairgrounds take animals in a fixed order. Beef come first, from 10 to 11 a.m., then turkeys until 11:30, then rabbits until 11:45. The scale operator gets fifteen minutes for lunch. Swine weigh in from noon to 2 p.m., and sheep and goats close the day from 2 to 3.

The grounds sit on the Flats of Moro, on the hill above town next to the Experiment Station, within walking distance of downtown. From Highway 97 a driver turns east at the Fairgrounds sign in the center of Moro, goes about a mile, and enters at the upper gate. The fair board describes the county as wheat country “rooted in agriculture and powered by wind.” Admission is free because sponsors underwrite it, and their banners hang from the Crow’s Nest Announcer’s Booth above the arena. The Sherman County Fair Board produces the fair and runs the grounds, and the county pays part of the cost.

The sources do not agree on where the fair falls in the farm year. The fair board says it marks the end of harvest season. The county’s page says it is scheduled for when the planting season winds down. The county historical museum still calls it the annual post-harvest fair in September. The 2026 fair closed on Saturday, August 22.

Barns and scales, Monday to Thursday

The 2026 fair opened with the 4-H Dog Show on Monday. Fair Queen Arwen Dorzab gave Best in Show to Cora Lanthorn, a member of the Sherman County 4-H Canines Club who was going into fifth grade. Tuesday was the Horse Show. It opened with showmanship and ran through English equitation, a jumping class, and western equitation before lunch. In the afternoon came trail, ranch horse, western games, and static judging. When the last class finished, the arena closed until the weekend. “Everything moves indoors, into the barns, and onto the scales up until the weekend, when the arena lights come back on,” Stephen Allen wrote in the Times-Journal of Condon.

After Wednesday’s weigh-ins the evening turned social. At 5 p.m. the fair board held a Kick Off BBQ in the indoor arena and invited the public to meet its members. The poultry show started at the same hour, the rabbit market show followed at 6, and the MJS Scholarship Cornhole Tournament threw its first bags at 6:30. Thursday was given to market shows in the indoor arena: rabbit showmanship at 8 a.m., then swine, goats, beef, and sheep in turn until 4 p.m. For the youngest visitors, the Sherman Kids Zone ran a bubble station in the late morning. At 5 p.m. the outdoor arena held horse games, kids’ games, and a Farm Olympics.

The Open Class Building stands under the grandstands. Adults and young people enter categories that run from blue-ribbon grains to blue-ribbon chocolate cake, for cash prizes. Entries include baking, sewing, crafts, artwork, and collections. The 2026 fair added a contest called “The Pioneer,” which required three exhibits in each of three divisions, nine entries in all. WB Ranch won the first one. The Sherman County Fair Sewing Club dressed in clothing made for the fair’s fashion event. In 2026 the Sherman County Court held its proceedings at the fair: Judge Joe, Commissioners Joan and Justin, and Tammi.

Friday rodeo, Saturday derby

Friday began with a breakfast at 7 a.m. in the indoor arena, sponsored by RDO and served while supplies lasted. Showmanship classes followed back to back: swine at 10, goats at 11, beef at noon, sheep at 1. The livestock judging contest came at 2:30. Late in the afternoon the Old Show Arena turned to the children. Fairy Godmother’s Events painted faces from 5 to 8 p.m., and Queen Arwen held a meet and greet. At 7 the outdoor arena opened for the Hometown Rodeo, with bull riding, barrel racing, and more, put on by the local Gorham Cattle Company. The band Countryfied played at 9.

Saturday morning brought the Grand Champion All Around Showmanship Contest at 9:30, with 4-H and FFA awards after it. At 1 p.m. came the 4-H and FFA livestock sale. Allen called the sale “the payoff for months of feeding, halter-breaking and record-keeping.” The carnival ran from 2 to 9, and carnival tickets and wristbands can be bought online ahead of time. The FFA served a barbecue meal at 4.

At 6 p.m. the antique cars, trucks, and farm equipment from the week’s showcase paraded through the outdoor arena. Fair Board member Andy Anderson oversees the showcase and enters his own machines in it. The demolition derby started at 6:30. The board credited Keegan and Tionie Kock for the work that made it possible. Miles From Nowhere, a local band that plays classic rock, country, and blues, played the last set at 9. Sunday has no public events, and the barns are cleaned and the exhibits picked up.

Grand marshals of forty years

Countryfied served as Grand Marshals of the 2026 fair, in the band’s fortieth year. Mark Mobley, Ron Mobley, and Charlie Walker formed it in 1986, and its first paid performance was at the Prineville Elks Lodge. Mark sang lead and played guitar and trumpet, a range his friends call “tridexterous.” Ron played drums. Dave Pshigoda joined on bass in 1987, and pianist John Hite, who came from rock and roll, joined in 1989. The band went on to record four albums: Simple Pleasures, The Old Homestead, Never Stop, and Time For Fun. In 2020 Karissa Gorham, Ron’s daughter and Mark’s niece, became a full-time vocalist.

Mark Mobley, Dave Pshigoda, and Ron Mobley also wrote “Friends and Neighbors” for the county’s centennial in 1989. They performed it at the Centennial Chautauqua at DeMoss Springs in June of that year. One verse describes the coffee shops where neighbors meet “to talk about the price of wheat, cattle and the wind.” That same year the fair honored every grand marshal it had chosen. The first was Giles French, author of the county history The Golden Land, named Mr. Sherman County in 1974.

A livery stable and a Ford on the half-mile

The county was twenty years old when the fair began. E. O. McCoy’s legislative bill of 1889 created it to be called Fulton, after the pioneer Fulton family, but it was named Sherman, for General William Tecumseh Sherman. The first real Sherman County Fair was held in October 1909, the same year, by the local history society’s reckoning, that the Experiment Station at Moro was founded. In 1910 the fair was held in downtown Moro, with the animals housed in the livery stable. That year the county negotiated for the grounds beside the Experiment Station and bought them from the Eastern Oregon Land Company. The new fairgrounds opened in 1911, and a Children’s Industrial Fair began in 1912.

In 1913 a site was leveled for a track, and new cattle and swine barns went up. The program offered trick riding, Wild West events, chariot races, and novelty saddle horse races. In 1914 the fair built a barn for racing teams, a combined judge’s and band stand, and a building for fancy work exhibits, and it enlarged the grandstand to seat 800. Automobile and motorcycle races were added that year. A Ford raced against time and made 44 miles per hour on the half-mile track. In 1915 a Ferris wheel and other amusements were set up downtown, and a man named Munter offered aeroplane flights from the fairgrounds. By 1917 the county had enough horses to hold races of its own. The war cut the 1918 fair short. In 1919 the fair counted 800 paid admissions on the Friday alone.

The CCC boys and the first queen

September fairs began in 1923, along with a smoker of bouts between local fighters. In 1925 every building was painted, and newer, lighter chariots came in. From 1931 through 1934, during the Depression, only a 4-H fair was held. In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps, “the CCC boys,” repainted the buildings, built bucking chutes, corrals, and arenas, put new windows in the barns, and rewired everything. That year’s three-day fair had chariot races and bucking horses. In 1936 came a large carnival and a racing program, Mac Barbour’s Rodeo arrived in 1937, and starting gates were built for the track in 1938.

The fair crowned its first queen and court in 1940. From 1942 through 1945 only 4-H livestock and projects were shown. Many Sherman County children took their animals to the Pacific International Livestock Show and won. In 1946 the draft horse barn was changed over for cattle. In 1952 the county held a horse show with more classifications than the State Fair. A hot water tank was put in the pavilion in 1953 so 4-H members could cook. Amateur rodeo began, and lights went up around the arena, in the years leading to 1960. A new 4-H pavilion followed in 1964, and a covered show arena in 1969.

The grounds are now used all year. There is a heated indoor arena, and the 4-H Pavilion and Old Show Arena can be rented. The county museum lists an RV park and campground on the grounds. Volunteers painted the entry mural for the museum’s Oregon Trail exhibit at the fairgrounds and carried it to the museum. In the autumn after the 2026 fair, Young Life met Wednesday evenings in the 4-H Pavilion. The Kids Zone scheduled a Trunk or Treat in the indoor arena for Saturday, October 24.