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It seems that Mother Nature has a
love – hate relationship with the Logan County Fair. She loves to
make us hate her! This reporter has been covering the Logan County
Fair for neigh onto twenty years and can count on the fingers of one
hand the years that we have had mild temperatures, low humidity,
gentle breezes and sufficient sunshine. Until Wednesday the count
for days when it was downright cold were zilch, but for those who
were at the fairgrounds on Wednesday trying to enjoy the 4-H swine
show, there was a period of time between 11:11 a.m. and a little
after noon that the temperatures reached 68 degrees. Rain pelted the
ground leaving large ponds of water throughout the fairgrounds. The
wind was so fierce that those sitting on the west end of the
livestock show barn watching kids show their pigs actually got wet –
inside the building!
The week had started out very hot, and apparently Mother Nature got
tired of the complaints and decided to give folks a taste of the
other end of the spectrum. Nonetheless, the youth showing their
animals and the adults watching them literally “weathered the storm”
and went about their business as usual.
The day began with judge Weston Tharp from Newton casting a critical
eye on several classes of gilts. Tharp is employed by a large hog
operation in Jasper County and was on the Lake Land College
Livestock judging team while a student at the school.
Prior to the beginning of the show,
guests got a special treat as a young man from Logan County, also a
member of 4-H, Raylon Schneider, performed the National Anthem. Some
folks may remember Raylon as the winner in the youth division of
last year’s talent contest at the fair.
This year the purebred entries were down, with several of the
classes such as the Yorkshire light weight gilts having only one
entry. In the gilts there was a sizeable showing of Chester Whites,
and the crossbred class also contained several entries. There were
no entries for the Hampshire class at the fair this year.
Even though entries may have been small, the quality of animal was
great, and the judge struggled from time to time to make an
appropriate decision and often said that there was no one animal in
the class that stood head and shoulders above the others.
Because the day was starting out quite warm, and there is also a
concern for the safety and well-being of swine in heat, the classes
moved through quickly and kids were working up a sweat just moving
their animals from the bedding barn to the show barn.
At the end of the class shows, the
championship drive featured the first-place winners from each class.
In the end the Grand Champion Gilt went to Paxton Lora with William
Boerma taking the reserve. Third place was Colton Olson, Fourth Reed
Naughton and fifth went to Luke Prestegaard.
Lora not only took the championship pennant in the gilt division but
also had the honor of winning the Don Crane Memorial Traveling
Trophy. His name will be added to the winner plaques on the trophy,
and he will get to have it in his trophy and pennant collection for
the next 12 months.
Because the weather was really hot to start the show, the classes
moved quickly and at the end of the gilt drive there was only a
couple of minute break before starting the barrow show.
For this portion of the swine show, there were entries in every
purebred class but again the numbers were pretty small in some of
the classes. The highest number of showmen was found once again in
the Crossbred classes.
The show was moving along quickly
until the storm hit. Rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was
coming into the barn blowing the sawdust flooring clear across the
barn. The rain was drifting into the west end of the barn and those
who had dressed for the heat wished for a while that they had
brought a coat or a sweater.
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The show was moving along, but
kids and pigs were getting soaked. The heavy rain started at
11:30 a.m. during the Duroc class. It was announced that the
class would finish, then the show would take a pause to see how
the weather developed. At the other end of the barn there was a
similar situation. The 4-H youth who would be showing cattle on
Thursday morning were scheduled to start bringing in their show
steers for class weigh-in. Again the announcement went out for
all cattle showmen to hold their steers in the bedding barns as
thunder roared just outside the building.
So severe was the wind and rain that the lights even flickered
inside the building, and several spectators started speculating
as to whether or not the electricity was going to go.
The rain did not let up right at that time, and after a short
break, it was announced that the show would continue. However,
the rain did let up by noon or so, and kids were able to resume
the task of competing to be the best of the best in their class
as well as carrying hopes to win the championship.
Earlier in the day, Alex Bobell had
been spotted carrying in the Don Crane Memorial Traveling Trophy.
She brought it to the fairgrounds because as last years champion in
the barrow category she had the honor of having possession of the
trophy for the year.
Alex’s sister Claire was also an exhibitor in the barrow division,
winning the top spot in the Duroc breed as well as top spot in the
Crossbred Class 3. Alex took the top spot in the Crossbred Class and
her sister took reserve.
When the final drive for the Grand Champion Barrow came around the
two sisters were showing against one another, Clair with her Duroc
and Alex with her Crossbred.
In that championship drive, Alex
took the top spot with Talon Carrol taking the Reserve. Claire
returned to the ring for the reserve competition, but Alex did not.
Alex will get to have the Don Crane Traveling Trophy in her
collection for the next 12 months.
In the end, Claire finished in third place and fourth place in the
barrow contest with William Boerma coming in fifth.
Little Miss Vayda
Farmer
Junior Miss Courtney Cecil & Little Miss Vayda Farmer
Miss Logan County Fair Julia Collins
Logan County’s newest fair queens
were on hand during the gilt show. They were dashed away to attend
another event on the fairgrounds at the end of that show but
returned in time to hand out the championship pennants and trophy.
[Nila Smith]
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