Early Friday morning, the swine barn staff removes all of the pigs that are not participating in the auction Saturday or being returned back to the owners’ home.
When I arrived, the staff had not removed my pigs, so I said my goodbyes and waited for them to be taken. Once they had left, I cleaned out pens and removed the feeders from the unused pens. I then ate breakfast and took a short nap.
Once I woke up from my nap, I visited my friend in the goat barn and watched her show a few classes. After watching her show, I looked around the FFA building and saw that my poster got first place.
Following walking around the FFA building, I walked over to the cattleman’s food booth and worked a shift. I put the meat on the bun or plate that the customer asked for and then handed the plate to the person working the side portion of the line. When my shift was over, I headed back over to the swine barn to water pigs.
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Once pigs were watered, some friends came over to my tent and we lounged around for a while and chit-chatted. When the parade of champions began, I went to the show arena and watched. I saw many familiar faces, including Emma Winks, who won ultimate supreme showman.
When the parade ended, I got supper from Immanuel, and it was delicious. I walked around the midway for a bit, and the crowd there was huge. I saw some of my friends and talked with them before heading back to the barn to return home.
Final day
The final day of fair has a gloomy feel for many livestock owners. Selling an animal at the auction can be a very difficult thing to do, and some people don’t sell anything because it would be too hard on them.
Saturday at the auction, I sold my cross barrow, Chuck. Rumpke bought my pig and my two sisters’ pigs, as well. I want to give a special thanks, especially to Rumpke, to all of the buyers for coming out and supporting the 4-H youth.
After the auction, my family packed everything we brought into the bed of my dad’s truck and headed for home. Once at home, my sister and I cleaned and disinfected everything we brought to the fair and put everything back where it belonged.
Fair week has been an incredibly fun week for myself, and I am so lucky to have the opportunities that I have. Singing the national anthem at the horse shows and tractor pulls, winning reserve grand champion creative dramatics and champion hamp gilt and writing the daily diaries would not be possible without the incredible support system I have behind me every day.
I want to thank my parents for always supporting me in my 4-H journey as well as everything that I do. Another special thanks I want to give is to my 4-H leaders for encouraging me to get involved in 4-H. I want to give a special thanks to Blake Hackman for referring me to write these daily diaries and for giving me so many opportunities in FFA.
I also want to thank Emma Winks for trying so hard every time we met for ultimate supreme showmanship practice and for never giving up. My final thank you goes to Heather VonDielingen. She has helped to better Jackson County 4-H so much and is always looking for new ways to better the program.
I hope everyone has enjoyed their week at the fair, and I hope to see you there next year.