My First Real Experience with the County Fair

I would be willing to bet that a good majority of 4-H and ANR interns have been to their fair share of county fairs, livestock shows, and auctions. Well, I have been to a few sheep shows, and I have been to the county fair almost every year, but this year was my first time ever witnessing the Carter County Youth Livestock Show and Sale.

I was absolutely amazed at all the people and work that went into making an event like this happen. We started out the week taking exhibits for our exhibit hall on Sunday, then on Monday we took exhibits again, judged all the exhibits by 11 or so, and headed on over to the livestock barn. As we make our way, we run into the fine lady who runs the show and she lets us know we still don't have our showmanship trophies...less than two hours before the show. So instead of staying to help set up, being the intern and about the most inexperienced person at the show, they send me to Ironton, OH to pick up our trophies. A farm supply store called Cooke's Farm Center sponsors our showmanship trophies every year, and the owner always comes out to support our kids at the auction. When I got to the store, I walked in prepared to see trophies sitting there waiting on me. I asked Bob where they were and he told me he didn't have them! Oh, how I panicked. After a few minutes of hyperventilating, he finally told me that he was just kidding and that since he got me so good, he would even help me load them. Thank goodness!

So I finally return to help with the show, and I just couldn't help but beam with pride as I see our 4-H kids, FFA kids, and Cloverbuds as young as five years old out there with their animals. What impressed me more than anything, though, was the sale on Saturday. The amount of support that these kids get from the community is astounding. Sure, a lot of the people have personal good to gain (politicians, local business owners, etc.), but nevertheless, the smile on a 5 year old's face when he hears he got $300 for his chickens is quite priceless.

All in all, I hope I have many more county fairs and livestock shows ahead of me!