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Before the rides and carnival fun of the Rockbridge Regional Fair and Expo started in earnest last Friday, local 4-H’ers gathered early in the morning to show the animals they raised.
The livestock show has always been a centerpiece of the fair, which this year ran from Thursday through Saturday, returning for the third year to the Locher Pavilion in Glasgow.
The pigs were first, shown earliest in the day because they’re most susceptible to heat, explained Tom Stanley, the Cooperative Extension Ag agent covering Rockbridge.
As they waited, contestants sprayed their pigs with water to keep them cool, and brushed them so they looked their best.
When called into the ring, the 4-H’ers maneuvered the animals carefully, trying to keep clear of one another while making sure to stay in the judge’s sightline.
The judge looked for different attributes in different classes of animals, explained Schylar Zollman, a fair veteran, depending on whether they are raised for market or to be bred.
Contestants are also judged on showmanship, that is, how well they control and display their animals in the ring. Schylar took the first-place ribbon for her showmanship of her pig, beating two of her siblings.
While the Zollman family brought the animals they raise — goats, hogs and cows — to the competition, there are opportunities here for kids who don’t have land or access to a farm of their own.
Siblings Kaitlin and Oliva Childs were entered in the sheep category, showing lambs they leased from Tom Stanley.
“We live in an apartment, but we live close to him, so we go over there are help with the feeding, with training the animals and all that,” Kaitlin explained.
Kaitlin is in both 4-H and Future Farmers of America, through her high school.
“Anyone in good standing with their 4-H club can come here to compete,” explained Megan Sheets, 4-H youth development agent for Rockbridge County.
The competition draws children and teens from Rockbridge, Amherst and Botetourt counties.
For Olivia, in her second year, the fair was more of a learning opportunity than a competition.
“Every year you learn something new,” she said. “I’m not so focused on the competition; it’s mostly just about coming here and having fun, and seeing what you can learn.”
Another opportunity this competition gives is for the 4-H’ers to sell the animals they raised in an auction Friday evening.
The championship winners from earlier brought their animals back to the ring again, this time walking them around for the gathered group of potential bidders.
This auction mainly is a way for the community to show support for the 4-H members, as many of the animals were already purchased.
As Sheets explained, a floor buyer is usually arranged prior to the sale. This buyer will pay the base price, and the bidder will only have to pay the difference between that base and the winning bid.
“It allows people to show support for the kids, without having to worry about taking the animal. They can bid without having to worry about having a destination already set for the animal, and the kids don’t have to worry about a no-sale,” she said.
“The child still gets all the money from the purchase; it just comes in from two places.”
The money from the sale of the animals can be helpful in many ways, as S.J. McDonald explained.
“A lot of kids, they use the money they get from the auctions for college funds, cars, things like that,” she said.
She used it to buy a guitar. S.J. started in 4-H when she was 5 years old, and continued until she aged out at 18. Now a country music singer, she returns to support her younger sisters, who show steers and lambs they have raised.
“I’ve been on the road all summer,” she said, “but I made it back for this.” -On reflection, this year’s fair was a positive one, in terms of numbers and organization, Sheets believes.
“Our numbers were good; we had 32 exhibitors coming from three counties, Rockbridge, Botetourt and Amherst,” she said.
“There are always some things we can work on, but overall I thought it was a really positive experience, for the kids to show and sell their livestock projects and then also to be able to be involved in some other parts of the fair.”
Stanley also thought the show went well, despite some concerns about weather and facilities.
“We were blessed with good weather, a little hot but no disruptive thunderstorms storms. The weather is a significant risk to the show when facilities are minimal. We continue to enjoy tremendous support from the community and we are grateful to all those that sponsored the show and supported the auction,” he said.
“We had a successful and fun show that was a great learning experience for our young people and we stayed safe, anytime you are working with animals there is some risk but the kids did a great job handling their animals.”
