Visit us online at firstbankhampton.com. 157th Franklin County Fair Thursday, July 14, 2016

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1 Daily Press Thursday, July 14, Vol. 17 No. 1 Printed daily 157th Franklin County Fair Thursday, July 14, 2016 Proudly produced and printed by: Home of the Hampton Chronicle and Sheffield Press This young man hangs on for dear life during Wednesday night s Wooly Ride. (Photo by Mackenzie Serbus) Thursday through Sunday during fair FREE Visit us online at firstbankhampton.com 211 FIRST AVENUE N.W. HAMPTON, IA Member FDIC

2 2 THURSDAY, JULY 14 FARM BUREAU DAY AT THE FAIR Franklin County Farm Bureau - serving 1,000 FREE Burgers, noon until gone - Phelps Implement tent 7:30-11 a.m. Open class entry, Floral & Horticulture 8 a.m. Swine show; Hog arena 9 a.m. Open kids pony/horse show, arena; Grandpa s Farm 9-11 a.m. Clover Kids cookie decorating; Exhibits Building 10 a.m. Horse speed events; arena Grandpa s Farm 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Commercial exhibits & Pleasant Hill open 11 a.m. El Gato, dancing horse and Kelly; Pleasant Hill 11 a.m. THE RHINESTONE ROPER; North Fairgrounds Noon Farm Bureau burger feed, Phelps Implement tent Noon Hula hoop contest; Phelps Implement Tent Noon -5 p.m. Franklin Farmhands; Grandpa s Farm 1 p.m. Sheep show, followed by goat show; Rehder Pavilion 1 p.m. Poultry show; Livestock Tent 1 p.m. Old Time Farming; Grandpa s Farm Today s Schedule of Events Thursday, July 14, 2016 Granger Smith visits grandstand stage tonight My name is Granger Smith. Sometimes long, fancy industry bios are helpful, but other times you just need to hear from the guy actually living it, so here s my story. I was born and raised Texan, and I m proud of that. I grew up along with two brothers, a couple of yellow labrador retrievers and parents that stayed together because they loved each other. My life changed when I was 14 years old and decided I would teach myself to play guitar. This was motivated by two things: I thought the guitar would make girls pay attention to me, and George Strait played one. By the time I turned 15, I was performing weekends on small town stages in North Texas, and doing my best as a fan club member to attend every George Strait concert within driving distance. Playing high school football was an important rite of passage for me, along with hunting and fishing, but the dream of a music career consumed me. At age 19, I was satisfied with enough songs I had written to make an album. As a freshman at Texas A&M, I was able to scrape together some studio money by pre-selling the album to friends around campus. For being just a kid, that album did pretty well. It landed me a songwriting deal with EMI Music Publishing in Nashville, and the following year, I took the leap to Tennessee. My time in Nashville was important. I absorbed the craft of songwriting from some of the best, learned my way around studios and recording gear, (which paid off for me later) and cut my teeth on countless stages as both a singer and as a steel guitar player for other singers. After four years, I had a shelf full of song demos, a little bit of music business know-how and a strong conviction to move back to Texas, finish my degree at Texas A&M, and start a band. Moving back to College Station meant basically starting over. The gigs were hard to book and when they did, nobody showed up to watch. But I was happy and felt creative. I saved money by making albums out of my house and using my band. We wore out vehicles and went from two pickup trucks, to a suburban, to a van and then another van. The trailers we towed got bigger, and ever so slowly, so did our crowds. I learned how to use a camera and some editing software for making homemade music videos and we made lots of them. My little brother, Tyler joined me in He traded a pretty good job at the bank to jump in an old van and sell t-shirts in honky -tonk dive bars. I think he did it not only because he shared the same vision as me, but also because his competitive nature was excited about proving a bunch of people wrong. And that s exactly what we did. Together we conspired and worked from the ground up with the goal of not only building an artist, but a brand. We embraced social media, searched for real connections with fans, studied our predecessors and ignored our doubters. The good shows helped pay for all the bad ones, and the songs that sold helped fund all the others that didn t. We put communities first, knowing that without the people, we were without a job. We created alter-egos through videos to help promote the music and that s where Earl Dibbles Jr. came from in the summer of It started as a short, funny video that my brothers and I filmed out where my parents live in Central Texas, but it turned out to be something that completely changed the shape of my career. I actually like to think of it as an intentional accident because as planned, the video went viral and became a huge promotional tool for my music. But we had no way to know if it would actually work, especially since many of my videos before it never caught fire. In the early morning of April 16, 2013, I woke up and checked the itunes store on my phone with tired eyes. I was absolutely shocked to see my new album, Dirt Road Driveway sitting at #1. Things were rapidly changing on the road, too. We were seeing sold out shows in markets we had never played, and a passion in fans unlike anything I had seen before. After independently releasing 7 studio albums, 1 live album and 2 EPs, I finally signed my first record deal in I met some great people at Broken Bow Music Group (BBR Music Group) in Nashville who sought us out, believed in my dedication and wanted to take what I was already doing, and magnify the message. We worked together not only as colleagues, but as friends unified on the same mission. Within only weeks of the signing, my debut single Backroad Song was a hit at mainstream country radio faster than any of us expected. A few years ago, I was standing with my boots in red, sandy, Iraqi soil watching a beautifully majestic Middle Eastern sunset, when one of my band members asked me, Can you believe music got us here? No, I can t. What a journey it has been since I decided to chase this crazy dream. We ve played 10 countries, 3 continents, even the White House a few times, and I still can t believe it all started with a few guitar chords. In my song called Sleeping On The Interstate, I wrote, Connecting map dots like poets and prisoners, trying to live more like a lover than sinner, slave to dreams so far away. That s me. If there s one thing I ve learned from the music business, it s that you don t really choose this life, you are this life. That s the truth no matter if you re selling albums or not. I do what I love and love what I do, and there s no sweeter freedom than that. 1-4 p.m. Harriman-Nielsen house open for visitors. 1:30 p.m. Nail driving contest; Phelps Implement Tent 1:30 p.m. El Gato, dancing horse and Kelly; Pleasant Hill 2 p.m. Ray Thompson, hypnotist; Phelps Implement Tent 2-4 p.m. STEM fest; Exhibits Hall Building 2 p.m. THE RHINESTONE ROPER; North Fairgrounds 2 p.m. Smith s Amusements, wristbands 5-7 p.m. $ p.m. CPR Band, 60 s & 70 s music; Mort s Gazebo 2:30 p.m. Blacksmith demo, Pleasant Hill 2:30 p.m. Tug of War; Pleasant Hill 3 p.m. Spelling Bee; Pleasant Hill School 3 p.m. Franklin County Farm Bureau insurance agents watermelon feed, Phelps tent 5 p.m. Fair Queen Coronation, Phelps Implement tent 6 p.m. El Gato, dancing horse and Kelly; Pleasant Hill 6 p.m. Ray Thompson, hypnotist; Phelps Implement Tent 6 p.m. THE RHINESTONE ROPER; North Fairground 7 p.m Grandstand gate & beer garden open 8:30 p.m. GRANGER SMITH; Grandstand

3 Thursday, July 14, Retiring Franklin County Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier was the 2016 Franklin County Fair Parade Grand Marshal. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda) Lauren Dirksen, 2015 Franklin County Fair Queen, will crown her successor from a field of five candidates during a coronation ceremony on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Phelps Tent. The five queen candidates are Katelyn Baltes, Brooke Benning, Morrigan Miller, Caleigh Rae-Ann Sutter and Mallory Wohlford. The new queen will reign through the fair and will represent Franklin County in the Iowa State Fair Queen competition this August. A crystal trophy will be presented to the queen sponsored by Midwest Prairie Candles, Styles on Third, J-T Machine and Tool, Alan Brown-Syngenta Seeds, Ardi and Linda Allen, Clint Burmester-Channel Seeds, First Bank Hampton, Jim and Christy Burmester, Hansell Ag, and Robertson Construction. Other prizes for the queen at the county level include a $750 scholarship sponsored by First Bank Hampton, Franklin County Farm Bureau Insurance Agents, Franklin REC, Hauser Financial Group, and North Central Millwright, all of Hampton. The queen will also receive a crown donated by Christensen Jewelry, one dozen long stemmed roses from Carol s Flower Box, Hampton, $100 spending money for the state contest donated by Steven Pearson, CPA, Hampton, a gift certificate from Orange Possum, Hampton, a gift certificate from Studio 13, Hampton, and a portrait from Wolf Photography, Dumont. The First Runner up will be presented a gift card from Greenbelt Bank and Trust, Iowa Falls, and a gift from Christensen Jewelry, Hampton. The second runner-up will receive a gift from Christiansen Jewelry. Miss Congeniality will be presented with a gift card from Greenbelt Bank and Trust and a gift from Christensen Jewelry. A Miss Photogenic will be chosen and presented a portrait from Wolf Photography, Dumont.

4 4 Thursday, July 14, 2016 Long-time fair volunteer Mark Malcolm runs the saw at Grandpa s Farm. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda) Just in time for this year s fair, First Bank Hampton purchased new serving trays to fit inside their racks. Pictured: Barb Ristau & Kent Mollenbeck While at the fair, be sure to take advance of their air-conditioned dining area located inside the 4-H building & enjoy one of their specialties: Daily Plate Specials l Chef Salads l Vegetable Beef Burgers Fresh Fruit Cups l Homemade Pies l Soft Serve Ice Cream Don t forget to use your FBH parade coupon at the 4H Stand! Member FDIC The tractor ride highlighted the start of the fair on Tuesday morning. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda)

5 Thursday, July 14, The Best of Franklin County Fair Parade Float was by First Bank Hampton We ll See You at the Fair... The Best Overall Franklin County Fair Float was by Franklin General Hospital Face Painting on Sunday 1-3 Saturday, July 16: 2:30-3:00 p.m. Kid s Coin Scramble sponsored by First Bank Hampton Rehder Pavilion, pre-registration required from 2:00-2:25. Sunday, July 17: 12:00-5:00 p.m. Host at the Pleasant Hill Bank. Be sure to stop by & get your child s face painted! Freewill donation to Relay for Life. The Best Chamber Member Franklin County Fair Float was by the Hampton Specialty Shops We are proud proud to support to support this great this great fair! fair! Grandstand Banner Sponsor Fair Queen Sponsor 4-H Stand Donor Pleasant Hill Bank Host Coin Scramble Donor Member FDIC

6 6 Thursday, July 14, 2016 Statler Grover holds his hat while listening intently to the Star Spangled Banner. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda) This cowboy lassos a calf during the rodeo. (Photo by Mackenzie Serbus) Checked Flag savings... with a low-rate auto loan from us! Member FDIC This cowboy holds on during the rodeo. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda)

7 Thursday, July 14, WInners at the Wooly Ride were, from left: Blaek Burmester, Ivy McWherter, and Max Kofoot. (Photo by Mackenzie Serbus) Also winning her division at the Wooly Ride was Hazel Menken. (Photo by Mackenzie Serbus) Teamwork is about working together to gain a common goal. And when it comes to your finances, let us be your financial partner. Together we can do so much more! Claire Wearda shades her horse while waiting for her turn at the horse show. (Photo by Mari Ann Wearda)

8 8 Thursday, July 14, 2016