New Year's Eve Blue Moon Bash in Plymouth

Usher in a new year of hope and possibility with an evening of celebration, great food, fine refreshments, and live music! The gates to the Amador County Fairgrounds open at 7 p.m., with dinner served until 9:30 p.m. Live musical performances by Speak Easy Jazz Orchestra, Funky Blue Devils, Late for Dinner, D.J. Gavin, and the winner of ACRA's Battle of the Bands, Meghan O'Keefe. This is a terrific opportunity to have a fabulous evening while supporting parks and recreation and local community groups. This event will be the place to be to celebrate the New Year! There are a limited number of tickets available, so get yours now! Ticket price includes entertainment, dinner, and shuttles to and from the event.

Tickets are $40 per person presale, or $75 per couple. After Dec. 10th the price increases to $50 per person. Ticket includes: dinner, all entertainment, goody bags, and shuttles to and from the event. Evening activities will take place rain or shine. Tickets on sale now locally at the following locations: All Branches of Bank of Amador, Play it Again Sports, Clark's Corner, Curves, Amador Visitors Center, Amador County Fairgrounds, Plymouth City Hall, Munnerlyn's Ice Creamery, Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium, or on the web at High Sierra Tickets. Shuttle pick-ups will start at 6:00 p.m. The schedule and pick up spots are available on our website. Special discounts for groups of 10 or more, reserved seating is available. For more information, call Amador County Recreation Agency at (209) 223-6349. Secure lodging early for this sell-out event. RV accommodations are available on the fairgrounds.

Amador County Fair Wine Tasting Friday, July 30

Presented by the Amador County Wine Grape Growers Association from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm the event features more than 40 wineries showcasing award-winning wines from the 2010 competition. Appetizers from Beth Sogaard Catering, locally-made sausages from Swingle Meat Company, and gourmet platters of aged cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables. Your $25 admission includes a commemorative glass. Tickets are available online at www.amadorcountyfair.com, at the Fair Office 1-209-245-6921, or at the event entrance. Designated drivers $12.50. Gates open at 6:30 pm, must be 21 years or older, please no strollers.

The Amador County Fair Wine Competition last Saturday, June 5, offered more than 450 wines for judging in the highly regarded annual Amador County Commercial Wine Competition. Entries were restricted to wines that can be identified as originating in the Sierra Foothill AVA (American Viticultural Area).

The Sierra Foothill AVA runs for 170 miles along the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This designation can be claimed by wines derived from grapes grown from any of following California Counties: Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Tuolumne, and Yuba.

With only 6,163 acres in vineyard production, The Sierra Foothill AVA crushes less than 1% of the State’s total wine grape production. However, the topography and generally infertile shallow mountainside soils combine with a Mediterranean climate to create moderate stress on the grapevines producing low to moderate yields of very high quality grapes.That quality was on display in the 2010 Amador County Commercial Wine Competition.

Seven panels of some of the State’s most experienced judges spent nearly seven hours, swirling, sipping and spitting 464 wines from 72 different wineries. Their time was spent in a concerted effort to determine the “Best of Class” in 34 separate varietal categories plus an additional nine awards that terminated in awarding the Best Red, Best White, Best Blush, Best other Wine and finally the overall Best of Show. As the wines in this competition so aptly demonstrate, the Sierra Foothills is a unique AVA with numerous wineries having a well deserved reputation for delivering well crafted high quality wines that typically are recognized at the California State Fair competition.

What has been a closely guarded secret among some wine lovers is rapidly being discovered by the rest of the State…..head to the hills for some of the best wines in California.

Click here for a listing of the results from the Amador County Fair Wine Competition.

Wrecks Waiting to Happen at the Amador County Fair

The Amador County Fair Destruction Derby is about “Destroy or be Destroyed” and the crash ’em / smash ’em event slated for the Grandstands arena on Sunday, August 1, at 7:00 pm, will be no different. Drivers do their best, while driving in reverse, in a bed of mud, to smash the other cars to smithereens. The audience cheers as mud flies, wheels spin in the gooey mess, and one car after another is annihilated or the overworked and overheated engines give up in a smoky haze.

Between heats, teams madly pull out major dents that might keep a wheel from turning, weld broken parts, and tinker with barely running engines in order to make it back out to the next heat. The last car running in each heat goes on to the final championship event.

Put on by the Jackson Rotary Club, the Destruction Derby is a major fund-raiser for the club who supports community services such as the Interfaith Food Bank. If you plan to attend the Amador County Fair Destruction Derby, get your tickets in advance as the lines form early for this sell-out event. Tickets are Reserved $15 all ages, General Admission $10, Children 6 and under $5, in addition to the Fair’s general gate admission.

Professional Rodeo bucks into the Amador County Fair July 31

Jack Mitchell, publisher of the Ledger-Dispatch bravely climbed aboard one of the 4 Star Rodeo’s massive bulls at the 2009 Amador County Fair. Cowboys must ride eight seconds for a qualified ride during a rodeo. Jack claims he hung on for 0.08 seconds. He says he’d rather be hung by his feet from a burning rope. The Fair means to take him up on that this year, and let the pros handle the bulls.

Bull riding is the most notorious of professional rodeo events and Four Star Rodeo Company is known among bull riders to have top of the line stock, including 2007 NFR (National Finals Rodeo) Champion Bull, Shakedown. But why would anyone climb on the back of a bucking bull for a small chance at a little bit of prize money and a silver buckle? Most would consider it a foolhardy act. The risks are obvious. Serious injury is always a possibility for those fearless or foolish enough to sit astride an animal that weighs nearly a ton and is usually equipped with dangerous horns. But cowboys do it, fans love it, and bull riding may rank as rodeo’s most popular sport.

Professional rodeo features skills developed by cowboys on the ranches and trail rides at the turn of the century, including roping, riding bucking animals, and racing the fastest short-distance horses in the world. The risk-takers are willing to climb on the back of a wild, bucking bronc or a notorious bull for a share of the purse or a silver buckle and the ride of a lifetime. It can take just eight seconds — if you can last that long!.

Timed events, such as calf or team roping and steer wrestling, are skills that require training and experience by both horses and riders. A good roping or hazing horse can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars and are the only animal athletes that are shared among the cowboys for a percentage of the earnings.

Professional Rodeo bucks into the Bennie Brown arena on Saturday, July 31, at 8:00 pm. Tickets for the rodeo are: Reserved $15 All Ages, General Admission $10, Children 6 and under $5.

Dave Stamey to Headline Amador County Fair Cowboy Poetry & Music Roundup July 29

Amador County Fair will host the first annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Roundup featuring poets Dave Stamey, Jerry Bell, Jim King, and Ron Scofield. Tickets for the show are $10 for adults and $5 for ages six and under and do not include admission to the Fair..

Old Cowboys and Indians Magazine has called Dave Stamey “the Charley Russell of Western Music.” Dave Stamey has been a cowboy, a mule packer, a dude wrangler, and is now one of the most popular Western entertainers working today. Dave can tell you some tales. He has been bucked off and stomped by many horses. He has been stepped on by mules and dragged around branding pens by cattle of many sizes. He’s ridden in the rain, in the snow, in the rain some more, in pretty nasty heat, and in feedlot pens where the air was thick and decidedly fragrant. He’s even wrangled dudes.

He has been twice voted Entertainer of the Year, three times Male Performer of the Year and twice Songwriter of the Year by the Western Music Association, and received the Will Rogers Award from the Academy of Western Artists.

Visit the Amador County Fair July 29 through August 1, 2010 for a Roaring Good Time!

Amador County Fair Seeks Survivors

Do you think you have what it takes to survive the Gravitron, competitive corn dog eating, zany livestock competitions and the Amador County Fair?

If you and your partner Survive four days and nights at the Amador County Fair you will win $500 and $500 for your favorite Amador County Charity. For more information visit AmadorCountyFair.com download the application and send it in.

We'll provide the Expedition Gear!

Hooray Hooray, Entry Guide Books arrived today!

For those who just can't wait you can pick up your copy at the Amador County Fair Office in Plymouth.

Look for them in all the usual outlets beginning May 10, including:
Amador High, Sutter Hill Cooperative Extension Farm Advisory Office, Ione Pharmacy, Mt. Aukum Store, Volcano Telephone Co in Pine Grove, Jackson Library, Chamber of Commerce in Jackson, Senior Center in Jackson, Argonaut High School, Amador Ledger Dispatch, Drytown General Store.

Safari ON!

A Taste of Gold 2010 this Saturay, May 1

Join us for A Taste of Gold and enjoy a variety of premier wineries from the Sierra foothills region. Sample delicacies presented by local restaurants and caterers. The fun continues throughout the day with live music, art displays, jewelry, a silent auction, a raffle, hot rods and classic cars.

Help us help families in need. For over 30 years Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency (A-TCAA) has worked to help families create successful lives by overcoming barriers. The Family Resource Services division provides a comprehensive array of programs designed to strengthen and support families including those at risk for abuse, neglect or out of home placement. These services include: parent education classes, therapeutic counseling, parent aide/home visitors, parent teen communication classes, baby steps classes, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for dependents of the court, PCIT (Parent Child Interaction Therapy), and mentoring. All of these services are offered for free!

For directions go to Amador County Fair

Challenge of Champions Rodeo March 19 - 21, 2010

The Amador County Fair is honored to host the 2010 Challenge of Champions and thrilled to see the best teen rodeo athletes compete in our Benny Brown Arena.

We salute the California High School Rodeo Association for their efforts to encourage the friendly spirit of competition, high standards for conduct and sportsmanship. Hat’s off to the kids, moms, dads, friends, neighbors, vets, feed stores and everyone involved. The investment of time, energy and dollars to support these kids will bring untold rewards to our community and to our Nation.

Oh behalf of the Amador County Fair Board of Directors, the City of Plymouth and Amador County we wish you the best of luck, blue skies, warm temperatures and a fast arena!

Rope ‘em ‘n’ Ride ‘em

For More Information please call 916-224-3630

Bluegrassin' in Plymouth

Fun Filled Weekend of World Class Bluegrass Music. Arts and Crafts, Great Food and Beverages, Classic Car Show (sat.only), Kids on Stage, Emerging Artists, Outstanding Jamming, Something for Everyone and Much More!
Early Camping Open Monday, September 14 - Advanced Tickets Available

SAVE $$'s on Admission and Carnival Rides at the Amador County Fair

SAVE BIG on DISCOUNT TICKETS for the Amador County Fair! 5 admissions for $25.00. SAVE almost 40%

RIDE ALL DAY for $20 - Pay one Price Carnival Wrist Bands - that's a 20% SAVING! Click on AmadorCountyFair.com!

Tickets also available at the FEED BARN in Jackson, Clarks Corner in Ione and the Pokerville Market in Plymouth.

Amador County Fair Survivor is on!

Do you have what it takes to Survive 4 Days at the Amador County Fair without money or electronic devices, eat Corn Dogs, do the Hukilau, Amador Idol, be a Carnival Barker, ride the Grivitron, swine showmanship and much, much more? Winner to receive $500 plus $500 to the Local Charity of Choice. Can you do what every 4-H Mom has done for generations? Entries close July 3. Click www.amadorcountyfair.com for rules and application.

Amador County Fair entries are now On-Line

You can enter your pictures, pies, pigs, preserves, quilts, cakes, flowers and more at the Amador County Fair On-Line through our website at www.amadorcountyfair.com. Not only is it quick and easy, it will also help the Fair’s efforts to be environmentally friendly.

Don't hesitate to call the Fair at 209-245-6921 if you need help deciphering the language of premiums, divisions, classes, and sweepstakes, how to fill out an entry form and more. As always the Fair will accept entries via the postal service.

The last day to file most exhibit entry forms is Saturday, July 11; however there are some exceptions, check your Exhibit Guide for your specialty.

Be part of the fun! It's A Grape Time to Hukilau at the Amador County Fair July 30 through August 2 in Plymouth, CA. Watch for more fun on-the-spot contests that will be held during the Fair.

MotorcycleExpo at the Amador County Fairground June 5 & 6

4th Annual MotorcycleExpo comes to Plymouth, CA June 5 & 6. New this year! BBQ and Bluegrass for Cancer Friday, June 05, 2009. Everything motorcycle including Motorcycle Destruction!!!

For more information visit their website at http://www.annualmotorcycleexpo.com/