Adams County Fair: Tales of Perseverance, Grit & Strong Community Support
The heat was just starting to dissipate at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening, July 23, as 32 kids and their families load in steers, pigs, goats, and sheep for the final weigh in before the Adams County Fair shows and market. Fair board members and leaders are on hand to assist and log numbers. Earlier that morning, the horse club performed and competed. Wednesday morning kids make their way to the barns to clean pens and finalize preparations for the week ahead. Rabbits are checked in and chicken posters hung (Avian flu strikes again) before the morning meeting. Kids showed grit, determination, and good sportsmanship at the 2024 Adams County Fair.
Monday morning, July 22 kicked off fair week with Record Book judging and interviews as well as the County Speech Competition. Volunteers listen, review, and judge each book and presentation, kindly and gently guiding kids through the interview process. On Monday and Tuesday, decorations go up in the barns and the exhibit hall fills with posters, exhibits, crafts, and homemade and homegrown goods.
The horse club gathered early Tuesday morning to meet with their group leader, Jennifer Rininger, and with the horse judge to review and ask questions. The horse arena was decorated with new banners of this year’s sponsors. Judging classes for the competition included showmanship, equitation, reining, trail, freestyle, and bareback. Four kids competed this year, two from 4-H and two with FFA. The overall winner was Elise Shumway, who has persevered over the years in improving her skills.
This year volunteers helped get a new event started, the Taco Feed Fundraiser on Tuesday evening after weigh-in! The event was very popular and convenient for fair families. The Feed brought in around $500 that will be split between FFA and 4-H clubs. Another new option this year was the snack shack which offered cotton candy, snow cones, and popcorn. Parents Megan McDonald and Katie Sullivan were instrumental in making operations run smoothly. The booth grossed over $1000 and was a convenient and fun option for attendees. The main food booth is always a staple with hot meal options and friendly service. These volunteers were working over a hot grill in 102° heat with a smile on their face!
Wednesday, July 24 kids were up early again cleaning pens, checking in rabbits, and hanging chicken posters. There were many new Cloverbuds, kids under eight years old, who raised rabbits or chickens. This year, due to the Avian Flu, leaders chose to have kids make posters showing all about their chicken projects rather than bringing birds into the barn. All chicken raisers still participated and were judged on showmanship at Wednesday’s events. The extension office even borrowed a stuffed chicken and a 3-D chicken model so kids could point out parts and answer questions. Rachael Melad, the new Ag teacher in New Meadows, stepped in to judge the small animal show. Tanner Lehman and Wyatt Robbins took Grand and Reserve Champion titles respectively for chicken quality with Wyatt Robbins taking Grand Champion for rabbit quality.
Small animal barn superintendent and small animal 4-H leader DeNali Toombs led her group throughout the year in science lessons and offered help to teach hands-on skills such as administering vaccinations and using healthy illness prevention techniques for their animals. Toombs kept her small animal crew on task with barn duty, keeping things tidy, and ensuring animals stayed cool in the high heat.
The afternoon continued with the Livestock Judging Contest headed up by Washington County Extension Educator Tyler O’Donnell. This is a great opportunity for kids to learn more about quality and practice judging animals, as well as an opportunity for another great prize. Kids learn to come up with reasons for judgments and practice presenting these orally without much preparation. Judges for the shows offer their time and expertise without much compensation. The judges showed a great deal of knowledge and enjoyment with the various animals and were encouraging to the kids in accomplishments and areas to improve.
Katie Tharp, large animal leader and barn superintendent, helped kids line up and move swine and sheep into the show arena throughout Thursday morning. Tharp held science lesson meetings and showmanship practices throughout the months leading up to fair, ensuring kids were prepared for show week. Robyn Warner led a club of kids raising pigs, mostly for the first time. Their involvement and assistance was invaluable. Parent volunteers are also on hand to steer pigs away from conflicts and keep them moving in the show pen. Friday morning, Tharp and parent volunteers assisted goat and beef showmen as they entered the ring for quality and showmanship rounds.
Taylor Noble is a senior this year and showed sheep and goat for her 5th year. She took Reserve Champion in Quality for her goat. Hope Zollman graduated this year and exhibited incredible showmanship with her dogs, taking the Grand Champion award. Zollman also competed in the swine and beef categories. She expressed in her buyer letter the trials and triumphs of her time in FFA saying, this year was rough with her pigs and she spent a lot of money for a great show pig but he unfortunately got sick and died. Her companion, or backup, pig ended up doing well for her in the show. Another triumph, last year Zollman was not able to show her steer as he was too wild in the ring, but this year she said her steer, “Maverick,” may have been the best quality steer she had ever shown.
Thursday morning’s winners for Quality were Brig Bingham for Grand Champion and Wyatt Tharp for Reserve Champion in the swine category. Wyatt Tharp took Grand Champion for sheep quality and brother Chase Tharp took Reserve Champion. On Friday, Hattie Nunn took the Grand Champion award for beef with Hope Zollman earning Reserve Champion with Maverick. Goat showman Payden Ling took Grand Champion for quality with Taylor Noble taking Reserve Champion for her 5th year project.
