BLUE RIBBON SUMMER
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President’s welcome Welcome to the 2019 summer racing season ing kicks off at 1 p.m. with a full afternoon and the 131st Gillespie County Fair. I am proud of racing to round out the day. The vendors to be a member of the oldest, continuous counwill, again, be there Sunday as well, so come ty fair in Texas. The Gillespie County Fair is a join us for a fun filled weekend at Night in long-standing tradition which has been upheld Old Fredericksburg. by the hard work of directors, previous direcThe Gillespie County Race Meet will be tors and volunteers from Gillespie County. Aug. 10-11. There will be a Lamb and Goat The support from the community to keep the Jack Pot in the Livestock Barn, Goat Roping Gillespie County Fair alive and well, year after and a full weekend of horse racing. year, is truly amazing. This is the weekend for quarter horse futuOn behalf of the Board of Directors, I want rity trials competing for the $100,000 plus to extend our sincere appreciation not only Gillespie County Fair Futurity. As with every to the directors and their families that put in racing weekend, come and enjoy betting the Burrow countless hours of time and work to ensure live ponies as well as simulcast betting. this tradition continues, but also to our dedicated staff and The 131st Gillespie County Fair will run Thursday through volunteers that work so hard to ensure success at each and Sunday, Aug. 22-25. every event. Thursday night is free admission family night to kick off I want to thank our Gillespie County Officials, City of our four-day event. Live music will be by various groups folFredericksburg and all of the businesses, organizations lowed by Los Texmaniacs. and individuals that support not only the fair, but all of our Friday morning, we start with the Fair Parade on Main events. Without these people none of this would be possible. Street. This will be one of the biggest parades you will see This year we started off with The Spring Fandango. It was with over 200 entries. The Fair gates open at 1 p.m. with the a new event to start the year. It was a day of music, car show, carnival and livestock judging, goat roping and much more. goat roping and vendors. The music headliners were Restless Friday evening, we will crown the new Fair Queen and her Heart and Sawyer Brown. The weather was not kind to us, Court. Jake Hooker and the Outsiders will provide entertainbut the crowd enjoyed it all. This will definitely be on the ment on the dance floor. agenda for next spring. We look forward to seeing everyone Saturday we will have livestock shows starting in the mornthere. ing in the Livestock Barn. A big day of horse racing will take Our racing season starts with our 4th of July Race Meet, place starting at 1 p.m. Following the races, get ready for July 6-7. There will be fast horses to bet on, lots of cold beer great country music. Saturday night is Ladies of Country, feaand great food for your weekend entertainment. turing Stephanie Urbina Jones at 6 p.m., Pauline Reese at 8 Our Night in Old Fredericksburg will be a big event this p.m. and the legendary Tanya Tucker at 10 p.m. year. It will be held the weekend of July 20-21. Horse racSunday will be the final day of 2019 horse racing season. ing will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a full afternoon The big race of the day will be the Gillespie County Fair of racing and entertainment. We will have a car show under Futurity. the Peddler Barn, BBQ Cook-off, Chili Cook-of, Goat Roping We invite you all to come out to the 131st Gillespie County later in the day, 42 Tournament, Weenie Dog Races, vendors Fair and enjoy the food, drinks, horse racing and all the fesin the Exhibition Hall and other family activities and music tivities. Throughout the fair, the carnival and midway will throughout the day. be running full swing, livestock will be in the barns for all When the sun goes down, we round out the evening with to see, and the Exhibition Hall will be filled with home and live music by Chris Rybak and the legendary Moe Bandy will agriculture products as well as community booths. Also, we close out the evening. have your favorite fair food, arts and crafts and vendors. The On Sunday we start off the day with our Race Day Classic weekend also includes goat roping, washer pitching, antique Steer Show in the livestock barn at 8 a.m. This is one of the tractor show and more. largest and most respected steer shows in the state. So, come Our final event of the year will be the 23rd annual early and watch the kids compete for big prizes. Horse racScholarship Fest, on Saturday, Sept. 21. We will have a college alumni cook-off, games, prizes, live and silent auction to raise money for our scholarship program. Each year we give many scholarships to graduating seniors as well as college students. To date, we have given $424,600 in scholarships to 726 of our local students. It is an honor and privilege to serve as President of the 131st Gillespie County Fair & Festival Association and I thank you for supporting this great organization. Come join us for all of our summer events. y the
jo d En n a e nty Fair u o Com C e
131st Gillespi
BURROW CUSTOM BUILDER, LLC Custom Homes • Remodeling Larry W. Burrow 830-997-7409 H • 830-889-2101 C
Larry Burrow, GCFFA President
Cover — Featured on the cover is Gillespie County Fair Queen Whitney Spaeth. Thanks to Wildseed Farms for allowing us to use their beautiful gardens for the magazine photos. — Standard-Radio Post/Yvonne Hartmann