While the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo is always a highly anticipated time for Eberhard’s Dairy, this year was especially exciting because it was the 100th anniversary of the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo. The event drew 296,940 people between July 31st-August 4th, becoming the highest attended fair in the county’s history.
We were thrilled to partner with the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo on an ice cream contest to celebrate the centennial. After receiving 300 creative entries, Deschutes Flair, submitted by Julia K. from Sunriver, was selected as the winner. Deschutes Flair is a French Vanilla Ice Cream with a Chocolate Fudge Swirl and a Toffee Crunch. Fair-goers couldn’t get enough of Julia’s creation, with Deschutes Flair selling out each day of the fair.
Eberhard’s once again partnered with the Central Christian School’s Travel Club, whose students scooped in the trailer in events throughout the summer, including the fair, to raise money for their bi-annual trips abroad. This year, the student’s plan to travel to Israel. The students did an excellent job of serving up ice cream during our busiest days on record, and we enjoyed having them as part of the team!
Continuing a long history of fair sponsorship, Eberhard’s sponsored the “Eberhard Food Court Stage” which hosted free entertainment for attendees throughout the five days of the fair. Fair-goers enjoyed a wide variety of entertainment including the talent show on August 1st. One of our favorite events each year is the ice cream social that we sponsor in conjunction with the Central Oregon Band of Brothers Veterans Salute. This year the Brothers specifically celebrated gratitude for 100 years of service and sacrifice. During the social, the Oregon Band of Brothers raised $500 which Eberhard’s matched, for a total donation of $1,000.
The fair creates so many memories each year and our team had the fun task of reading through some of your memories from the past 100 years of the fair as part of the submission process for the ice cream contest. Below are some of our favorites!
Every year, for the past 40 years, our family has waited for the fair to arrive. We always have to go on Wednesday's to see what has happened to all of the entries from the youngest, to the oldest. The fair is our family event all week with memories of joy and happiness that lasts all year. -Patricia M.
Deep fried Oreos, chocolate covered bananas, ice cream, curly fries (maybe not the best ice cream flavor). Grabbing a snack with your best buds and strolling around the Deschutes County Fair is as good as gets when you're a kid. I loved all the vendors and would enter the at fair every year. Even won a few best in show ribbons. -Jazzmyne W.
Every year we all get together for one week and all the troubles and worries wash away and we just have true fun. -Ethan B.
Fresh squeezed old-fashioned lemonade on a hot summer fair day, along with being on the Ferris Wheel at sunset! Walking around taking in the smells of yummy food, checking out the animals and going to the rodeo. -Theresa P.
Riding carnival rides for the first time with my then five-year-old little boy two years ago. We had just moved back from an island in Alaska where we didn’t have a fair or carnival. He thought he died and went to heaven! My second favorite would be sitting at my parent’s hot tub sales booth when I was in high school. I would “model” the spas by sitting in them in my bathing suit, haha! They have since sold their hot tub business just south of the fairgrounds but it always brings back memories seeing all the vendors. -Jessica S.
The Buckaroo Breakfast is my favorite memory at the fair. Generations of my family have been serving at and attending the Buckaroo Breakfast for years and years! I love the food and the small town feel. I look forward to it every year! -Karyn B.
Once the person in front of me in line for a food booth was really grouchy and rude to the guy in the booth. Then it was my turn to order and I tried to give the man in the booth a relaxed, understanding smile and a moment to take a breath, and endeavored to ask for what I wanted as politely as possible to offset the rude guy before me. The man in the booth smiled wryly and said something like "And here, have a soda on me for being nice after THAT". It seemed to help both of us get over the bad vibe to move on to each get back to enjoy our summer evening . . . -Barbara R.
My two favorite things at the fair are visiting the horse barn and watching calf roping at the fair. One of my favorite memories is when I took a friend from Portland to the fair for her first time. She had never seen a horse (or any livestock) in person before and was terrified. There was this beautiful, big ranch horse, and his owner and I were trying to coax her into patting it on the neck. She finally inches closer enough to reach up and give the horse a quick pat when the horse sneezed. She tore out of that barn faster than I’ve ever seen her run before or since! So we didn’t make a horse lover out of her, but she had a great time that evening at the rodeo, watching the horses from what she considered a reasonable distance in the stands. -Beth S.
One of my favorite memories at fair was when I was about 9 years old. There was a mallard racing event. I was selected to participate. I got to select my duck and was able to race my duck against a few other participants. I won my heat and then the overall race! I was beaming! I wore the foam duck visor that I won for the rest of the day. It was such a fun memory that I will cherish forever. -Kiley H.
Taking in the sights, smells and sounds of the fair, as the sun sets with a big cone of vanilla-chocolate swirl ice cream, trying to keep up with each melting drip in the summer evening heat. P.J. F.
The first fair I went to was so cool. It felt like going to another time. I’m from California and we don’t really have this kind of thing where I grew up so it was definitely fun being able to go to this and feel safe and have a good time with friends. Crystal K.