There is always a lot of work to be done on show day.

My brother and I get up at 4 in the morning to feed and wash all of the dairy animals. Once we arrived, we picked all of the manure up in the straw and fed all of the animals.

After feeding, we then took each animal individually into the wash area, where we put soap on and scrubbed the manure off of each animal. After all of the animals were washed and eventually dried off, we then started to groom each animal.

Once the animals were groomed and ready to show, we were waiting for each of the animal’s classes, where we eventually would show them in the show arena.

After a long, hard day of showing, we milked the five cows we brought and took off all of the show halters.

Showing is an opportunity for people to have fun and show all of the hard work we have done with our animals. It’s not about winning, but more about the learning process and the people you meet along the way.

It takes a lot of people to run the fair and the 4-H program. A special thanks to the fair board, the extension office and 4-H volunteers. Also a thanks to my family for helping me and supporting me through all 10 years of 4-H.

Ryland Nierman, 18, of Brownstown is a Jackson County 4-H member sharing his experience at the Jackson County Fair with Tribune readers. Send comments to [email protected].