The Colusa County Fair Foundation recognized an individual, a group, and a family when they presented their annual Heritage Awards, just prior to the 2021 Junior Livestock Auction on Saturday.
The non-profit, whose mission is to keep the fairgrounds viable for future generations, presented awards to former longtime Colusa Farm Show Committee Chairman David Zwald, the Colusa Western Days Committee, and the Frances and Leon Etchepare family for their outstanding support of the fair and 44th District Agriculture Association.
” This is when we recognize and want to pay tribute to individuals, families, groups or companies that have left a lasting impact or had a profound effect on our fairgrounds and, in most cases, our communities,” said Michael Doherty, a Fair Foundation member and 44th DAA president.
Zwald has been the backbone of the Farm Show committee for about 25 years, with two stints as president that lasted 10 years, Doherty said.
” The Farm Show is the single largest revenue generator for the 44th, and with Dave in the
chairmans role, the show consistently performed well above expectations,” he added.
During Zwalds lengthy involvement with the Farm Show, he was responsible for a number of innovations and modernizations that led to a better experience for Farm Show visitors and exhibitors.
Fair Foundation Director Rebecca Myers presented the 2021 Heritage Awards to five original members of the Western Days Committee during the morning ceremony in the TK Marshal Pavilion, where Western Days roping events were held for two decades.
Accepting the awards were Emmett Pennebaker, Caroline Vann, David Forster, Sherry Maltby, and Kathy Griffin, on behalf of a larger group that also included Marsha Bucke, of Orland, and Leslie Ferrendelli, of Wilsall, Mont., and the late Jerry Vann.
The group started the weekend festival that celebrated the Old West and more than a century of cattle ranching in Colusa County. Western Days included Cowboy Poetry, roping, penning, branding, a western trade show, Dutch oven cook-off, rib cook-off, cattle drive, western parade, and sheep dog trials.
” Western Days was so successful, the Stonyford Rodeo Queen competition was moved to become part of Western Days,” Myers said.
Myers said Western Days was a popular annual event for 20 years, which was great fun for the community and a successful fundraiser, thanks to the volunteers and donations from businesses.
During its run, the Western Days Committee used proceeds from the event to provide scholarships to high school seniors. The group also donated to the Colusa County Sheriffs Volunteer Unit, ALS (Lou Geherigs Disease) research, hospital auxiliary, and other causes.
Fair Foundation resident Ben Carter recognized members of Leon and Frances Etchepare, not only for the late couples contributions to the Colusa County Fair and community, but for continuing that tradition down through the generations.
” Few families have done so much for the Colusa County Fairgrounds and community.
Leon William Etchepare was a Maxwell farmer and rancher. He was a longtime member of the 44th District Agriculture Association and subsidized below-average sale prices for youth selling lambs at the fair, which was the precursor for the formation of the local buyers groups.
” The seeds of the buyers groups started with this family,” Carter said.
Frances Marie (Dunning) Etchepare volunteered with the horticulture exhibits, and when Leon was fair board President, they were both instrumental in the planning and construction of the horticulture building.
The building was named Etchepare Hall after Leons death in 1976. The Frances Etchepare Memorial Garden was constructed and dedicated after her death in 2013.
The Etchepare family today continues their support of the fairgrounds. When state funding for local fairgrounds dropped significantly nearly a decade ago, Allen proposed the formation of the Colusa County Fair Foundation, and his wife, Shiela, is a charter member and secretary for the organization that has raised $750,000 since its formation in 2014 for facility improvements. Leon and Frances Etchepares family now descend to the fourth generation, and the family continues to make significant contributions to the fair and fairgrounds.
Leon and Frances Etchepares daughter Jeanmarie, daughter-in-law Shiela, grandson Leon Etchepare and spouse Andrew Pentecost, and great-grandchildren Cade and Lena attended Saturdays ceremony to accept the awards.
” Their unwavering generosity and support deserve the Foundations highest honor, the Heritage Award,” Carter said.
In addition to the Heritage Awards, each of the honorees received recognition from Assemblyman James Gallagher and Sen. Jim Nielsen. Ï…