Breck Buer a triple threat at the county fair

During fair week, Breck Buer says you might see him picking up fairgrounds trash in the morning and playing guitar on stage in the evening. An electrician, a musician and a dedicated Christian, Buer is Washakie County’s head of maintenance.

Buer hails from a tiny town in northwestern South Dakota called Buffalo. After attending electrician school in Rapid City, Buer initially took a job in Jackson, Wyoming, but came to Worland in 1998, soon after his father moved here. He found work with Jadeco Electric and married a local gal. “I met my wife Rhonda the first night I was in town,” Buer said.

After eight years or so with Jadeco, Buer branched out on his own, establishing Buer Electric in 2007. Over the years, his work evolved to include carpentry, tile work, flooring, handyman work and other such dimensions. In March 2024, Buer began working at his current job with Washakie County. “When I heard that Tom Schmeltzer had retired, I jumped at the chance to work for the county,” Buer said. “I was looking to ease out of self-employment and go to work full time.” Buer said he enjoys his county job and really appreciates the work of his team members, Candy Treanor and Kyle Emerson. “They do an amazing job keeping the landscaping looking good and the buildings looking good,” Buer said.

Buer is also a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Around 10 years ago he said he got a notion to start a high-energy country-rock band. He placed an ad in the Northern Wyoming Daily News, looking for like-minded musicians. Bill Pennington replied, and the Rattlesnake Ridge band was born. The two were soon joined by Brad St Clair and Shane Foote. Buer said he also sometimes plays the bass guitar with Rattlesnake Ridge and has played the drums. Rattlesnake Ridge will perform at the Washakie County Fair on Saturday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m., opening for Thompson Square.

But Rattlesnake Ridge isn’t Buer’s only band. Around four years ago he co-founded Big Praise, which plays contemporary Christian pop music. Buer said he has been a Christian since childhood, but re-dedicated himself to Christ about a decade ago at a men’s CatchAFire event and has been growing in his faith ever since.

“Justin Macy and myself were really, really excited about the CatchAFire event, and were thinking that it’s too bad that it only comes once a year,” Buer said. “That’s when we came up with the idea for Big Praise,” he said. “Something that we could travel if we needed to and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through music.”

Buer and Macy were soon joined in the group by Anne Bleicher and Kelly Schauble. Most recently, Buer said Jenna Byers has joined Big Praise. He said Big Praise is an independent Christian band, not attached to any specific denomination. “Our goal is to have a community-wide group,” he said.

Big Praise will perform a free concert at the Washakie County Fair on Wednesday, July 24 at 6 p.m. However, those who miss this performance will still have an opportunity to see Big Praise just 10 days later. Buer spoke about the Praise United Musicfest Christian music festival, which will be convened on August 3 at the Washakie County Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Seven Christian bands from Worland, Basin, Thermopolis and Casper will perform, including Victory Christian Church, Basin First Baptist Praise, Agape Praise, Crosspoint Baptist Praise Team, As One, the CatchAFire Men’s Event band (in which Buer also plays) and Big Praise.