Stillwater County 4-H Fair

The Stillwater County 4-H & FFA Fair is held under one long roof at 16 Sheep Dip Road, just north of Columbus and Interstate 90. The county calls the building the Stillwater County Civic Center/Fairgrounds, and the fair’s own schedule calls it the ACE Civic Center. One part is a 12,000-square-foot enclosed pavilion with a kitchen, restrooms and meeting rooms. The other is an open-sided livestock area of about 22,000 square feet with a riding arena and a show ring. Roll-up concession doors serve both the inside and the west side of the building, where food trucks plug in. The lot holds 250 or more vehicles. Admission is free.

The 2026 fair ran July 12 through 18. The Stillwater County News put the number of young exhibitors at nearly 200 for the 2025 fair.

Seven days on Sheep Dip Road

The week opens on Sunday with the shooting sports competition at 10 a.m. and a barbecue kick-off at 6 p.m. Monday begins with interviews for exhibitors in all projects. The dogs follow, with rally at 4 p.m. and agility at 6:30.

Tuesday is small-animal day:

• Dog obedience at 8 a.m.
• The cat show at 12:30, moved inside if needed, according to the fair book
• Pocket pets at 1 p.m.
• Rabbits at 1:30
• Poultry at 3
• A small-animal round robin at 5:30, with the dogs included

Tuesday evening at 7, some animals are judged a second time. For the carcass program, swine, sheep, goats and beef were delivered to the Midland Bull Test on July 6, judged live, harvested and evaluated. On the evening of July 14 the carcasses were shown and the grading explained at Stillwater Packing.

Horses have Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening the beef, sheep, goats and swine come to the scales.

Thursday starts at 7:30 a.m. with dairy goats, followed by market swine, goats, sheep and, at 4 p.m., alpacas. The evening belongs to the teenagers: a cornhole tournament at 5:30, a stick horse race at 6:30, and the Teen Leaders Dance at 8.

On Friday, swine showmanship and breeding gilts enter the ring at 7:30 a.m. and beef at 11. A griddle cook-off competition starts at 4 p.m., and at 7 the Plowed Under Band plays for music and dancing.

The non-animal projects are shown indoors through the week. The 2026 fair book lists 21 departments, among them welding, small engines, sport fishing, range science, weed science, cake decorating, leathercraft and cowboy poetry. There is also a Cloverbuds division for children 5 to 8.

The two o’clock sale

Saturday opens at 9 a.m. with the large-animal round robin. A buyers’ lunch runs from noon to 1:30, followed by the awards: senior recognition, 4-H’er of the year, Volunteer of the Year, and the License Plate award. The livestock sale begins at 2 p.m.

Only exhibits that won a purple or blue ribbon may be entered in the live auction or the silent auction. The silent auction opens Thursday morning and closes at 5 p.m. Saturday. In 2025 the News reported that local businesses and neighbors do the bidding, and that the money goes back into the young people’s education and future projects.

Nine clubs and five chapters

The county 4-H program counts close to 200 youth members and 50 volunteer leaders in nine clubs:

• Beartooth Ramblers
• Broadview Homesteaders
• Johnny’s Buckaroos
• Molt Happy Helpers
• Park City Wranglers
• Rapeljack’s and Jills
• Spring Creek Stockgrowers
• Stillwater Ranch Hands
• United Clovers

Exhibitors also come from FFA chapters at Columbus, Park City, Stillwater Valley, Broadview and Rapelje.

The MSU Extension office on Quarry Street in Columbus is the fair’s home office. Its 4-H agents are Haley Barker and Sarah-Jane French. An executive 4-H council, led in 2025–2026 by president Brian Young, works alongside them. Volunteer superintendents help with the fair in each area: swine, beef, sheep and goats, small animals, dogs, horses and indoor exhibits.

Teen leaders carry much of the load. A July 2026 post from the office lists their work:

• Preparing and delivering 150 Easter meals for members of the community
• Organizing Awards Night
• Running the fair’s cornhole tournament
• Dreaming up the 2026 stick horse race

The office credited the week’s photographs to “MC and her crew.”

A barn north of the interstate

When the county was finishing its design, the plan called for a multi-purpose pavilion with a 21,000-square-foot open-sided space beside it. The county committed $6.8 million in metal mines funds, cash and borrowing. According to the contractor, Dick Anderson Construction, construction began in October 2022 and was finished in June 2023, and the building’s perimeter stands on 36 rammed aggregate piers.

Sources give different figures for the finished work:

• County donor appeal, written weeks before completion: $8.1 million and 32,000 square feet, paid for with metal mines dollars, PILT, reserve and American Reinvestment and Recovery monies.
• County rental page: $8 million from metal mines money and capital reserve, “fully paid for with no debt.”
• Contractor: 34,000 square feet.

The site covers 20 acres. The county has proposed a full-size outdoor arena as the next phase.

The first fair on the new grounds ran July 16 through 22, 2023. Northern Ag Network advertised animal showmanship, indoor exhibits, dog agility, a cornhole tournament and live music from Whiskey River Revival. A buyer’s lunch was set for 11:30 on Saturday the 22nd, ahead of a 1 p.m. market livestock sale.

By 2025 the program had changed. A community dodgeball tournament replaced the old pig wrestling event. That year the fair also added the Flat Top Throwdown, a public grilling competition on Friday evening with cash prizes, carnival games for children and food sampling. The News reported that organizers created it to draw people who might not usually come to 4-H events. Food trucks were on hand all week. Sarah Brewer of the MSU Extension office told the paper: “Moving everything to a new building is always challenging, but everything went very smoothly.”