BEAVER, Utah — One month after the Cottonwood Fire and destructive flooding devastated parts of Beaver County, families are coming together for a familiar tradition — and a chance to focus on something other than disaster and recovery.
The Beaver County Fair opened this week in Minersville with 4-H events, exhibits, carnival rides and a rodeo expected to draw between 1,000 and 1,500 people.
For many attending, however, this is not an ordinary county fair.
Klellin Bradshaw’s family lost a cabin in the Cottonwood Fire. Built in the late 1990s, it was a place where generations of his family and friends spent time together.
“We had a family cabin up there. We’ve had it up there my whole life,” Bradshaw said. “It felt like a primary home. We were up there a lot. I went up there all the time with my buddies and family, so a lot of good memories up there.”
For about a week, during the fire, the family studied fire maps and waited for word about whether the cabin had survived.
“We always had hope,” Bradshaw said. “We looked at the map and we thought, ‘Oh, maybe there’s a chance, there’s a chance.’ But, you know, in the end, it was gone.”
Bradshaw has not yet returned to the property, and his family has not begun rebuilding.
Before the county could begin recovering from the fire, flooding created another threat. A creek runs through the Bradshaw family farm, so the family spent days preparing equipment in case the water rose.
The farm was spared, and Bradshaw acknowledged that his family had resources that some other residents did not.
“We were more fortunate than others,” he said. “Others were closer to the creek and smaller creeks that were on their property. We were really blessed.”
Elsewhere, floodwater damaged homes, washed out portions of State Route 153 and destroyed the rodeo grounds in Beaver.
The flooding happened roughly one week before Beaver’s annual two-day Pioneer Day rodeo, forcing the city to cancel a tradition with decades of history.
“I think there was a sense of disappointment,” rodeo chairman Lonnie Olsen said. “Something that somebody looks forward to every single year — and suddenly, now we don’t have that there anymore. And so, we have that piece of our heart missing, in a sense.”
The destroyed arena was used not only for rodeos, but also by local riding clubs, 4-H programs and families.
Wiley Hughes, a member of the rodeo and grounds committees, said his father-in-law helped construct the arena in the early 1980s.
“It’s where they went to be together and practice their events,” Hughes said. “Anybody who’s ever been involved with horses knows how special that is.”
While the Pioneer Day rodeo could not be saved, rodeo returned to Beaver County Friday night at the county fairgrounds in Minersville.
Olsen said the first competitor out of the chute would be riding a bull. His own job was to pull the gate and then, as he put it, quickly move out of the way.
Organizers said the event offered the county a welcome return to something familiar.
“They need some cheering up,” Hughes said. “They need some normalcy, something just to take your mind off of the problems that have been occurring lately — floods, fires. Just something to look forward to and enjoy.”
The disasters have also affected residents whose homes were not damaged.
Beaver County resident Debbie Utterback said the fire and flooding cut off access to areas where her family camped, fished and hunted. Her daughter was married on family property in the canyon.
“It affected me emotionally, just because it’s where I have memories with my kids and family,” Utterback said. “We’ve spent birthday parties, a wedding. My daughter got married up there on family property.”
Utterback said holding the fair gives families a chance to set aside their worries, even as recovery continues.
“It means that we’re here to enjoy life and still move on with life and still have fun,” she said. “We’re getting through one day at a time through the struggle that we’ve been through.”
The fair cannot replace the cabins, roads or rodeo grounds that were lost. But for one weekend, it is giving Beaver County a place to gather, make new memories and find a reason to cheer again.
