The 40th Annual World Cow Chip Throwing Contest will highlight the Cimarron Territory Celebration in Beaver.

The Cimarron Territory Celebration begins Saturday and runs through April 18.

The world famous cow chip throwing contest is April 18 and starts at 1 p.m.

Charlene Marshall, the secretary director for the Beaver Chamber of Commerce, said between 100 and 150 people will compete. She said everyone is trying to beat the Beaver Fire Department team, which includes last year’s winner James Pratt.

Marshall said there are different ways to throw a cow chip. Pratt prefers to use a discus style when throwing. Marshall said others prefer a frisbee release. Choosing how the cow chip is thrown is not all that important though. What matters is the distance and accuracy of a throw. Wind velocity and direction also play an important role when throwing.

The cow chip throw and celebration are held to remember the early day pioneers who used cow chips for fuel to heat their homes, cook their food and sustain their life.

Pioneers used to gather cow chips in the fall for the winter. Wagons would be taken out to pastures to collect the chips. The pioneers would hold contests between each other to see who could throw the chips into the wagon with the most accuracy.

Today the contest is flipped in that people compete to see who can throw chips the farthest distance from the wagon.

Besides the cow chip contest there will be plenty of entertainment.

“We went all out this year,” Marshall said.

Beginning on April 11 there will be a chili cook-off starting at 8 a.m. The annual poker run will start registration at 11:30 a.m. the same day with the first bike out being at 1 p.m. The Git-R-Done races will start at 7 p.m., also on April 11.

Marshall said there should be 1,000 people in attendance over this weekend. She also estimated that there could be between 2,000 and 3,000 people present throughout the rest of the celebration.

On April 14 things gear back with the art show at the Jones and Plummer Museum opening at 1 p.m. The show will run for the rest of the celebration.

The Aussie Outback Experience will be giving shows on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Experience shows run 45 minutes and involve animals and information about the country.

A kangaroo and joey are part of the show, as is Monty the Python snake.

“We’ll have boomerangs and cow chips this year,” Marshall said.

On April 15, an old fashioned church service will take place at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church.

The reception for this year’s Pioneer Queen will be held on April 16 at 2 p.m. in the Cimarron Room of the First Security Bank. Elizabeth Taylor, who lived on a farm in Balko for many years before moving to Beaver in 1968, is the Pioneer Queen for the celebration.

April 17 will be filled with a horse shoe throwing contest that starts at 3 p.m. and a dance that runs from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the Beaver County Fairgrounds.

The chow chip throw is on Saturday as is a car show and tractor show. The car show will take place in the Baptist Church parking lot with prizes going to the winners. The tractor show will be held in the Beaver Auto Supply parking lot.

They will occur right after the Cimarron Territory Parade is completed. This year’s parade will mark the return of Captain Cow Chip. The popular figure has been missing from the past few parades, but will be present along with the Big Beaver to great visitors.