Fairview General Supplies 1st Annual Backhoe Rodeo & Family Fun Day a huge success

Fairview, SC 04/25/2022 (Paul Kirby) – The 1st Annual Fairview General Supply Backhoe Rodeo, Truck and Tractor Show, and Family Fun Day was a huge success last Saturday. The bright April morning dawned with absolutely beautiful weather as more than 600 people came out to enjoy the show and activities in the small, rural Fairview Community of western Lexington County.

Many special guest were in attendance Saturday. Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon was in attendance with his wife Kim. He also had South Region Commander Kevin Howard with him and a number of deputies rotated in and out of the event throughout the day. US Congressman Joe Wilson (SC 2) made an appearance as did SC Senator Katrina Shealy and her husband Jimmy. SC Representative Ryan McCabe came with several of his sons and Lexington County Councilman Larry Brigham also came to enjoy the day. Former Lexington County Councilman Bobby "Gravedigger" Keisler showed up as well. Keisler, a gravedigger by trade, is a skilled operator himself but begged off entering the rodeo because he had to dig a grave for a funeral later in the day in Newberry County.

The carefully groomed field beside the store filled early with many antique tractors and antique and late model trucks that gleamed in the bright sunshine. People both young and old strolled amongst the many vendors and displays as the operators who were to compete in the Backhoe Rodeo attended a pre-event meeting. At that point, the owner of Fairview General Supply and Foremost Plumbing and the event’s organizer Russell Daggerhart hopped on the Bobcat mini-excavator and skillfully showed everyone how each portion of the competition would be played. Twelve highly skilled operators had registered for a chance to win the $1,000 cash prize for the one who could complete the 4 tough tasks in the shortest amount of time.

As crowds watched the operators in awe, many became hungry and visited the food vendors set up in the parking lot of the Fairview General Supply. There were delectable main courses from City Eatz, everything fried fair style foods from Brain Freeze, Kettle Corn, Hispanic fare, Pelicans Sno-Balls, and much more. Each vendor remarked toward the end of the event what a wonderful day they had in sales and enthusiasm from their customers.

Elsewhere on site, kids enjoyed bouncy houses, face painting, and other activities including just running barefoot in the cool grass of the expansive field. Again, it was just a wonderful day to be in the country and Fairview enjoying a beautiful spring day!

By the end of the Backhoe Rodeo, the top three operators had been selected. Only 2 seconds separated the 1st and 2nd place winners. The final results were as follows:

Joe Glenn won $1,000 and 1st place with a time of 6 minutes 6 seconds.

Dillon Smith won $250 and 2nd place with a time of 6 minutes 8 seconds.

Trenton Taylor won $150 and 3rd place with a time of 7 minutes 36 seconds.

Sunday morning, Russell Daggerhart said in an interview, “It was much more than even I expected. People seemed to have a great time and there were crowds here throughout the day. We set out to do this as a service to our community and to bring recognition to our store. I believe we accomplished everything we set out to do. We are already preparing to start the planning for next year which we expect to be bigger and better.”

PHOTO CAPTION # 1 Left to Right: Trenton Taylor 3rd Place, Dillion Smith 2nd Place, Joe Glenn 1st Place.

PHOTO CAPTION #2 All the operators