Saturday, Aug 10, 2013 2:28 PMUpdated Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013 2:42 PM
Demolition derby, auction return as annual fair favorites
Ted Neergaard got plenty of attention from his competitors during the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Scott McCallister of Best Western Plus Rio Grande Inn bought Joie Raybourn’s 1,247-pound grand-champion steer, Moby, for $6.25 a pound. Rabbits, swine, goats, poultry, sheep, heifers and steers all were up for sale in the annual auction at the La Plata County Fair. One 266-pound pig, bought by Shane Truby of 5 Star Contracting of Bayfield, went for $30 a pound. Joie is the daughter of Scott and Dana Raybourn.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Domnick Dryer, 10, son of Katrina and David Dryer, looks over the antique tractors at the La Plata County Fair on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Tori Raybourn, 10, daughter of Scott and Dana Raybourn, gets some rest before auctioning off her swine Saturday afternoon at the La Plata County Fair. Tori’s older sister, Joie Raybourn, 13, took the grand champion steer category with her steer, Moby.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Visitors enjoy the rides at the La Plata County Fair on Friday evening.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Freddie Brooks, right, tries to get his girlfriend, Jessica Radojits', car unstuck from one of her competitors at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Jim Heinzelman assesses the damage to his vehicle after a round at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Demo Don gets a piece of the action at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Jessica Radojits, left, Freddie Brooks, center, and Jack Mersch, all of Aztec, ease Jessica's car into a parking space between rounds of the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon. This is Jessica's second year to compete in the event.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Tony Green cuts it up at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Sonny Burgos, left, talks with his wife, Dara Burgos, between rounds of the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - "It was awesome. I wish we didn't get stuck. I was ready for more," said Jessica Radojits after assessing the damage to her car after a round at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Eighteen drivers competed in the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday afternoon.
Winning can be bittersweet, even for a three-time grand champion steer raiser like Joie Raybourn, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Escalante Middle School.
Raybourn’s 1,247-pound steer, Moby, made a splash at the La Plata County Fair on Saturday, winning the grand prize for market beef and selling for $6.25 a pound, or $7,793.75, at auction.
As of 8 p.m., it was the top seller, but the auction continued past press time.
Her father, Scott Raybourn, said the proceeds will go toward Joie’s college tuition, but Joie said she never likes to goodbye to her steers.
“I cry every time,” Joie said.
For the last year and a half, Joie Raybourn fed, bathed and groomed her steer at her grandparents’ ranch in Bondad.
“He knows her,” said her mother, Dana Raybourn, an administrative assistant at Sunnyside Elementary School. Joie’s father is a cabinet maker.
To ease the transition, the Raybourns offer to keep the steer for 30 days after sale. This gives the steer time to relax.
“Stress can affect the quality of the meat,” Dana Raybourn said.
Keely Harper, 14, a freshman at Bayfield High School, took the reserve prize for a 1,058 pound heifer named Taylor Swift after the pop singer. It was the first time in memory that a heifer finished as high as reserve or second place.
Harper, the daughter of Shawn and Cheryl Harper, did not sell the heifer at auction, saying she wanted to breed it in the spring.
Emotions ran the gamut on a county fair day that began with blue skies and got hit with a storm that knocked out power in the afternoon.
Brian Hill, 29, said he looked forward to driving in the demolition derby to get “rid of his road rage for the year.”
The fair had its lighter moments, too, with three chickens dressed in capes winning the top prize for the poultry costume competition, beating other chickens dressed up as Pippi Longstocking, a spider and a cotton candy chicken with a spotted blue coat.
Chickens named Ravinar, Veritas and Sayna were masquerading as the Three Musketeers.
“They’re show chickens,” said their owner, Cara Kallaher, 15, of Durango.
La Plata County Fair Schedule
The La Plata County Fair will take place at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. For more information, visit http://co.laplata.co.us/departments_officials/general_services/fairgrounds/county_fair.
