Photo courtesy of HCCW

By Ramonda A. Thompson, HCCW

The Harney County CattleWomen (HCCW) Chuckwagon Breakfast is once again being held on the Saturday of Fair Week, Sept. 12, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Harney County Community Building next to the Chamber of Commerce. 

The Fair Chuckwagon Breakfast continues to be an important fundraiser and  community get-together during fair time. 

Sourdough hotcakes, steaks, eggs, coffee, juice and milk are on the menu once again. Harney County appetites have looked forward to this lineup on the Saturday of Fair Week ever since 1953. The cooks this year will again be Drewsey ranchers. Cook emeritus Charles Dunten will be there to greet folks in the breakfast line. Janice Dunten and daughter, Jaylene Krueger, are the pancake makers, with other Drewsey women helping.

The silent auction for scholarship funding will be held, and items can be previewed and bid on as one goes through the food line.  

This 2026 CattleWomen Chuckwagon Breakfast is led by HCCW Breakfast Chair Ramonda Thompson.  She and over 30 active members will be on hand early Saturday morning. HCCW Scholarship students are a part of the breakfast serving crew as well.

Prices are $20 for 10 years and older; $10 for 6–9-year-olds; 5 and under are free with a paid adult. Tickets are available at the Chamber of Commerce on the morning of the breakfast. 

HCCW mission and values remain dedicated to the conservation and care of ranching, education on beef nutrition, and promoting the beef industry. HCCW members have been active in several events these past 12 months supporting this mission. Risa Malnack and Ramonda Thompson volunteered with the Oregon CattleWomen’s booth and beef recipe cooking demonstrations at Ag Fest in Salem; Susan Otley, MaryJo Davies, and Ramonda Thompson attended the American National CattleWomen’s (ANCW) Region V meeting in Spokane; Morgan Kromm has served as the OCW President for two years, attending ANCW conventions and meetings; HCCW President Nichole Adamson and other members went into schools and explained beef nutrition, ranch life, and handed out beef jerky samples; Katie Baltzor chaired the HCCW Ranch Tour on Saturday of the Bird Festival, with 17 attendees going to two Harney County ranches to see and learn how the cattle industry operates in our area, then were served a beef tri-tip lunch at the EOARC meeting room; and HCCW served lunch to the Douglas County hay haulers who drove several ton of hay to feed cattle displaced by the recent fires.