BROWNSTOWN — The FFA building at the Jackson County Fair features baby farm animals and has been a favorite of Jackson County fairgoers for many years.
The building, also referred to as Young MacDonald’s Farm, serves as an educational exhibit for many topics related to agriculture. Fairgoers can learn facts about animal care, farm safety and much more.
The week of the fair, Jackson County FFA members oversee the building and activities outside. They also have posters and exhibits on display.
The baby animals are a big draw to the building, not only for the kids but for adults, too. It has been that way since the early days of Young MacDonald’s Farm back in the late 1950s when the animals were housed in a surplus Army tent. The new building was dedicated Aug. 4, 1974, on the opening day of the fair.
Olga Otte was in the FFA building on Monday watching the ducklings play. She enjoys seeing them at the fair each year and takes photos and sometimes puts videos of them on Facebook.
Aaron and Amy Ho were at Young MacDonald’s Farm with their children, 3-year-old Ashton and 4-month-old Aria.
The family now lives in Fishers, but Aaron was born and raised in Seymour, he said.
“We’ve been to the exhibits today and through the buildings and got some food at Immanuel,” he said. “Now, we’re here to see see the animals in this building, and then we’ll head over to the midway.”
Aaron said he remembers going to the fair a lot when he was a kid, and now, he’s enjoying it with Ashton for the second time. It was his wife and daughter’s first time attending the fair.
Ashton and Aria’s grandmother, Christy Isaacs, was enjoying the fair with the family. She was born in Seymour and raised in Cortland, she said.
Also at the fair Monday was Linda Myers, the Crothersville FFA adviser and agriculture teacher at Crothersville Junior-Senior High School. Her father, Robert “Bob” Myers, was a part of Young MacDonald’s Farm from the beginning. He died May 8, 1995, in a farm accident.
Myers pointed out the mural in the FFA building and said the fence, the cow and the barn were all painted on the mural, but the rest of the space is for kids to come in and use the chalk and draw on the mural and it’s fun, she said.
One of the FFA members working in the building was Cash Sawyer, a junior at Crothersville High School.
Sawyer said he has been in FFA about four years, and he explained how FFA members are helping take care of the animals at Young MacDonald’s Farm and taking responsibility of them during the fair.
Evin Hoevener, a senior at Crothersville, also was helping in the building Monday.
“We take care of the ducks from 1 to 6 p.m. today, and every hour, the ducks get switched out,” Hoevener said. “We take care of the cats and make sure to feed and water them and clean out their litter boxes.”
Hoevener also has 4-H projects and shows dairy beef steers, which he has been raising and showing since about third grade.
“I enjoy the cows and have always liked them and have always been around them,” he said. “I joined FFA because my sister, Kalynda Hoevener, was in the organization, and now, she’s the ag teacher for Lanesville Junior-Senior High School. I have a brother, too, and he farms.”
Hoevener said he has been involved in 4-H since kindergarten, and his future plans will probably involve some sort of farming, but he’s still thinking about it.
The 93rd Indiana FFA Convention was held June 14 to 16 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, where Hoevener received his Hoosier FFA Degree. There were 15 other chapters across southern Indiana participating in various leadership contests.
Two other Crothersville FFA members who participated in the contests were Kendall Berry in essay and Baron Riley in discovery prepared public speaking, where he was awarded second place. Berry and Riley worked at the FFA building a little later Monday.
Berry said during their shift, they would switch out the groups of ducklings every hour, like Hoevener and Sawyer did, and make sure they have plenty of feed and enough water.
“Right now, we have lambs, cats and rabbits here tonight, but the rabbits and lambs are not ours,” Berry said. “Somebody was nice enough to let us borrow them so the kids can see them, and we make sure they have water, and in the morning, we make sure the cats have feed and water.”
She said they also have games set up outside the building, where they make sure things are running smoothly with cornhole, basketball, plinko and putt-putt and try to keep track of their supplies because sometimes, golf balls get hit a little too far out.
Riley is a freshman, serves as treasurer of Crothersville FFA and has been involved in the organization since sixth grade, he said.
“I like how FFA builds me as a better leader and helps me with public speaking since we go to competitions and talk in front of a lot of people,” he said.
Berry is secretary of Crothersville FFA and is a senior. She has five horses and more than 40 chickens she helps take care of on her family’s property.
She said one of the things she enjoys about being in FFA is the opportunities the members get.
“You have opportunities to better yourself and become a better leader and things like this, where we get put in charge of the entire FFA building,” Berry said. “We watch over it and make sure everything is OK, and we are responsible for taking care of the animals, and also, we have opportunities to give back to the community.”