Lake County Fair: a culmination of year-long hard work
Dakota Wharry Photo
Pogo and Flop wait impatiently as Ryan Kendall cleans their stall. Each of the 4-H kids spends hours taking care of their animals throughout the week of the fair.
Dakota Wharry Photo
Courtnee Clairmont brushes her heifer Vivian’s fur to prepare for the beef showmanship event on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Karen Peterson
A cow’s tail gets brushed in the livestock barn prior to judging.
Nicole Tavenner
Two girls enjoy a quiet moment with a baby goat during the Lake County Fair last week in Ronan.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
The sounds of cows bellowing, sheep baying and pigs squealing were all around during Lake County Fair week. Children of all ages tended to animals of all shapes and sizes keeping them well fed and comfortable during the heat of late July.
Crowds came and went throughout the week to look at displays of the 4-H and FFA kids’ accomplishments, and watch the animal events.
Fair manager Tim Marchant said this year’s event went over smoothly.
“People seemed to be having a great time,” he said.
According to Marchant, attendance this year was about average. But he did note that there seemed to be more people from out of town this year, which, he said, is always a good thing. Events went smoothly and there were only a few technical hiccups with things like wiring and plumbing, he said.
This year around 250 youth participated in the fair through 4-H, FFA and open class entries, Marchant said.
Counting livestock there were more than 1400 different entries with each participant submitting an average of 5 entries, he said.
Though the fair itself only happens for a week, for the volunteers and 4-H members that make the events happen, a lot more goes into the Lake County Fair than just one week of work.
Marchant said that he and many of the volunteers put work in all year long. For the majority of volunteers, things really pick up about two weeks before the fair. Close to 100 volunteers helped prepare the barns and fairgrounds for the traffic they would receive, Marchant said.
While he can’t take financial donations, many people do donate goods and volunteer their time to help pull everything together.
Even when the fair ends, a good portion of the volunteers stick around the following week to help with clean-up and tear down.
For Courtnee Clairmont and many other 4-H kids, the county fair is the culmination of a year’s worth of work.
This year she brought five entries to the fair including five cattle and a poster for FFA on judging livestock. She received grand champion in her category for her poster, as well as several purple ribbons and grand champion awards for the various events she entered her cattle in. On Saturday, Aug. 29, she even won grand champion for senior showmanship at the round robin event.
The round robin is an event where the 4-H kids are judged on their ability to show seven different types of animals including alpacas, cattle, pigs and horses. Often the kids have never shown several of the animal types so it pushes them beyond their boundaries, forcing them to communicate with other members to learn how to show the animals they’re unfamiliar with, Courtnee said.
Now 17, Courtnee has been in 4-H for the last 10 years. She has been showing livestock since she was nine years old, the youngest age 4-H members are allowed to bring livestock entries to the fair. Courtnee said she used to bring more entries to the fair, such as photography and sewing, but has since focused on her passion for working with cattle.
Typically, she starts shopping for the next year’s calf in October, she said. By November she’s already selected her calf and begins to work on halter breaking it.
“You have to get them to the point where they’re willing to be lead around with not much effort,” she said. “Depending on how stubborn the calf is, it can take months sometimes.”
4-H kids have to keep up with the daily chores involved in taking care of the animals, such as cleaning stalls, feeding, brushing and trimming their hair to train it so it looks good for show season in the summer.
It’s a full-time job, there aren’t really days off, Courtnee said. At the end of the year all the hard work pays off when you take the animal to show, she added.
But it’s not all about ribbons and glory.
“This year more than anything I’ll remember getting to be that older mentor that someone was to me when I was younger,” she said.
Courtnee is now the vice president of the Ronan High School National Honor Society, and president of her FFA chapter. She and her mom Carrie attribute her success to the skills she has learned through 4-H.
According to Carrie, 4-H really helped Courtnee come out of her shell. She is more outgoing, and the program has taught her a lot of independence, responsibility and leadership skills.
The kids spend a lot of time on their projects throughout the year, Carrie said. “I’ll always respect what 4-H has done for me and my kids.”Even as early as her freshman year, Courtnee had scholarship opportunities and recruiters contacting her, Carrie said.
A lot of 4-H kids put the money they earn from selling their projects at the yearly market auction toward their college funds. It may not pay everything, but it definitely helps, Carrie said.
