By Cowboy State Daily
Pie contests, sheep dog trials, a quilt show, horse races and many more activities are in the spotlight in northern Wyoming this weekend as Hyattville holds its annual Cowboy Carnival.
The carnival, now in its 16th year, will be held Sunday, drawing hundreds of people to the small community for what is described as a day of family-oriented fun.
“What we focus on is trying to make it a good family event, where we don’t have a lot of drinking and all of this other stuff,” said Linda Hamilton, treasurer for the Hyattville Community Center.
The day’s activities, which also include a fun run and photo show, are designed to raise money for the Community Center, a former elementary school that is now used as a hub for events ranging from weddings to reunions.
“We use it for weddings and funerals, any kind of event that anybody wants to host that they don’t have enough room for in their home,” Hamilton said. “There’s a gym, people can come in and do inside activities.”
The building also features a small library and exercise room and is operated for the benefit of residents of Hyattville, which is 41 miles northeast of Worland.
“Hyattville is a tiny little town … and there just aren’t any places to host events and places to take kids to let them run off steam and energy,” Hamilton said. “That was the goal, was to be able to use this building for all those activities.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hyattville has an average population of 81, and Hamilton said many of those residents are involved in staging the day’s activities.
“We have a good community that steps forward to do this,” Hamilton said. “It’s quite an event and it’s amazing that we can pull a community together and have them do this much.”
The event usually draws from 400 to 450 people, Hamilton said, and raises an average of $10,000 to help with the community center’s maintenance and operation.
Helping raise part of that money is the annual silent and live auction featuring items donated by area residents.
Bob Herman, who is in charge of both auctions, said the events available for sale vary widely.
“To be quite honest, it’s fairly random,” he said. “We get a certain amount of agriculture-related stuff. Certain people are more artistic and will make jewelry. There are usually a couple of paintings and we’ve had a quilt donated.”
Activities begin at 10 a.m. with the 5K run-walk and the final event is the live auction taking place at 3:30 p.m. In between will be horse racing — featuring riders from across the area — children’s events such as pony rides, a petting zoo and “Pony Express” stick horse races, a photography contest, a quilt contest and a pie contest.Also scheduled for the day are sheep dog trials — where working dogs are put through their paces herding livestock — and a shooting competition.
Many of the events, such as the quilt show, photo show and live music, will be held in the community center. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children and $25 for a family and includes a barbecue lunch.
More information on the Cowboy Carnival can be found by visiting the Hyattville Community Center’s website at Hyatville.org or the Hyattville Cowboy Carnival page on Facebook.
