For 4-H members, animals offer the prize

Matt Unrau

Trailers packed with animals flowed into the Sanders County Fairgrounds throughout the entire afternoon on Wednesday. It was check in day at the fair, and the scene resembled controlled chaos as the air was full of neighing horses, bleating goats and mooing cows.

Lindsey Salmi, 16, of Hot Springs led her steer out of her parents’ trailer followed by two pigs owned by her brother Justin and his friend Trevor Paro. It’s the fourth year Lindsey has had a steer in the fair and as she led her steer into the barns she was hoping for at least a purple ribbon this year. Lindsey ended up doing better than she hoped for by winning Reserve Champion in the steer senior class showing.

After getting their animals checked in with the vet, the different club members grabbed a stall and laid chips down in it and fed and watered their animals. It was the beginning of what would be a very busy week for the members.

Three days later a tired Tom McDonald of Nirada sat on a chair in the feeding area waiting for the start of the steer showing. Tom had woken up at 4:30 a.m. that morning to wash his steer before the wash racks were full with other steers.

He had also washed his animal the night before, but put the finishing touches on him in the morning that included scrubbing his hooves and brushing his hair upward to make the steer look more filled out.

“I’m just wondering how I’m gonna do, wether he is going to behave for me or not,” says Tom. He ended up winning reserve champion in the junior class showing.

On the same morning Trevor Bras was spray painting the hooves of his steer that he would show in the senior class showing. He’s been doing this trick for years and explains that it makes them look cleaner.

Before the show as encouragement Trevor says he pets his steer and tells him “lets do it.” Trevor ended up winning Grand Champion in the senior class.

Later on the same day, the grand champions of the different species had a chance to earn the right to be called the showman of showmen and win the round robin event.

In the large animal event, 4-Hers switched between a horse, steer, goat and pig showing them and answering questions. For family and friends it was amusing to watch their kids have to show an entirely different animal especially for Jessica Read’s father who laughingly said you got to come see this when his daughter, who had won the horse show, had to chase around a pig in a pen for two minutes.

It was a common experience for other competitors. Charles French of Paradise, Grand Champion of the dairy competition, explained that pigs were his hardest animal because you couldn’t hold on to them. “You have to run around with a stick, and they(the pigs) do what they want and you have to pretend like they are doing what you want them to do,” says Charles.

Despite this hardship Charles ended up winning the event and credits his experience raising a couple pigs in the past to him getting through that portion.

Charles is in his sixth year of bringing animals to the fair and says he has become more relaxed with the amount of time he has devoted to the animals. In his first year he spent basically the whole fair with them, but now finds time to relax although he still checks up on them once every hour.

As for being showman of showmen Charles doesn’t give it too much importance and says it’s only about having fun. “I just put the trophy by my animal and don’t even mention it anymore. It’s fun to remember, but it really doesn’t last any longer than just the fair,” says Charles.