Fair Time!

During the home-stretch of my first semester of graduate school, I got to have weekend of Newport Fair activities.  This was my second time visiting the fair, so I was really excited to visit again!  The Newport Fair is Virginia's oldest agricultural fair, so how appropriate it was that I helped with the livestock show.

I arrived at the barns to see lambs and a few goats and chickens.  The kids were decked out in their colorful plaid shirts and blingin' belts, something that us dairy show kids, who were required to wear all white, never had the pleasure of wearing.  My biggest contribution to the show was getting the prize money ready and being a copying machine for the classes with my old Giles FFA friends Alisha and Katheryn.  It was great to catch up with them while watching the wee-ones show the critters.

We did run into a snag when it came to judging the chickens.  Although I have some poultry judging in my past, judging rooster-hen pairs was not a part of any contest I did.  It just so happens that the only class I had more than one contestant in was the pairs.  The two pairs were different breeds as well.  The judge for the show was more specialized in livestock, not poultry, so the job of placing them landed on me and Jeannie.  After some creative brainstorming, Jeannie decided to place them into "small breed pairs" and "large breed pairs" so that way, all were winners and no one got to blame the intern...more than necessary.

Toward the end of the show I got to announce the participants in the "costume contest" portion of the show.  It was extra cute because of Jeannie's son, Layton participating along with the goats!  Following the overload of cuteness, we had a nice potluck behind the barn for the participants and their families.  It was a tasty way to wrap up the show and avoid overpriced fair-food.  Even though I missed the horse-pull due to clean-up, I enjoyed the rest of my evening by hanging out with a few friends.

Layton and his lamb, Wesley
(photo by Jeannie)

Bright an early on Sunday, we came back to clean up the grounds.  Never in my life have I more appreciated janitors and grounds-keepers.  People are disgusting.  But we got the grounds cleaned and raised some money for 4-H in the process!

It's been years since I've attended any fair, so being a part of Newport brought me back to my youth.  I loved seeing the 4-H er's hard work paying off.  At the same time, they made friends and saw old ones.  I had expressed my excitement for the Newport Fair for a while, and many Giles County friends wondered why.  "It's really small," they would say.  The Newport Fair celebrates heritage,community, and agriculture things that I love to see anywhere, especially rural southwest Virginia.  This event gave me a fun and relaxing way to appreciate the simplier yet important things in life.

Youth and Community Involvement

While in the extension office I have had the opportunity to participate in several of the 4-H club activities and other events in the community.  It has been a long time since I was involved in 4-H clubs and community activities so it was great to see what other possibilities there are for 4-H youth.

With extension, I was able to be a part of Pearisburg Festival in the Park several weekends ago.  By attending planning meetings with Cora I was able to network with community members who were not necessarily in agriculture, which I have done by working with Jeannie.  It also gave me insight on how planning for community programs and events works.  There is so much that attendees of events take for granted that goes on behind the scenes.  During the event I help with traffic control during the inaugural 5K for the festival.  I hope that maybe next year I can be around to participate!  During the festival I helped set up and man the booth for the Ag Explorers Club.  I got to meet some of the members and parents, the adult volunteer Kelly, and some cute critters!

My new friend at Pearisburg Festival in the Park

I also tagged along for the Rich Creek June meeting.  Although the turn out was small, it was fun getting to know some of the older 4-H members after my first day with 4-H Cloverbud Day Camp.  Even more exciting for me was that the topic was June is Dairy Month and I was able to talk about my favorite agriculture industry!  Since then, I have done the educational program for the Ag Explorers meeting for July on beef cattle, and will be attending the July Rich Creek meeting tonight.

Another aspect of youth development that I got to participate in was a livestock judging trip to Augusta County.  The 4-H/FFA Livestock judging team got some great live practice at different farms.  I even got to brush up on my own judging skills...which are still in need of some work.

The three little pigs

My classes for graduate school started today, so my time working with extension will be limited.  I am really looking forward to helping with the Newport Agricultural Fair next month!  Newport is Virginia's oldest agricultural fair and will be a fun break from the busy class schedule.

I know my posts have been far and few between, but look out for some posts about 4-H Day Camps soon!