Gates will open at 6:00 PM with Kris Paronto speaking at 7:30 PM

Sgt. Kris “Tanto” Paronto, a native of Alamosa, Colorado, is an 8-year veteran of the United States Army Rangers 2^nd Battalion 75^th Ranger Regiment and has spent an additional 10 years as an CIA Operative. Along with a small team of ex-Special Forces operatives, Sgt. Paronto was with the CIA during the 2012 Benghazi Attack which culminated in the deaths of then US Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, US Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and CIA Contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty, both former Navy SEALs. Kris has since become a prolific writer, businessman, and philanthropist. Kris and his brothers-in-arms story can be found in the book-turned-movie 13 Hours.

Attendees of the Mesa County Fair 2022 won’t want to miss this, as Kris offers a firsthand account of what happened that fateful day in September 2012 when he and men of the same stoic character stood together, shoulder-to-shoulder, in the face of tyranny and despair. And thus, by acts of valor and compassion, through thunderous moments of conflict and peaceful waves of harmony, Kris relates his story as you have never heard it before.

The sport of bull riding dates all the way back to the ancient Minoan culture where bulls were among the first animals to be domesticated. Bulls in the Minoan culture were also revered as gods, and the act of wrestling or successfully riding a bull was used as a test of strength and manhood. Today, bull riding, while not to dissimilar from its ancient roots, is a professional level sport that is recognized globally as perhaps the most dangerous and brutal 8-seconds in sports. In order for a bull rider to successfully receive a score, they must stay atop their bull for 8 full seconds, with one hand locked firmly in place around a rope strung behind the animals forelegs and up over the back, while keeping their other arm in the air. If at any point during the unbearable 8-seconds of torment the rider touches either themselves or the bull with their free hand, or fail to reach the 8-second mark entirely, it results in a no-score ride. At the Mesa County Fair 2022, expect to witness an exhilarating, and at times cringeworthy, event that will not only have you talking about the event long after the curtains close, but will also stir feelings of wonder and awe at the sheer courage a bull rider must possess.