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Animal attractions
Fairgrounds come alive as 4-H’ers, adults bring livestock to barns
Saturday, July 9, 2011
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BEDFORD – Marissa Armstrong’s face brightened into a smile when she talked about the pig she had just washed at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds Saturday morning.“It’s fun,” she said of her involvement in the Swine Club. “And I love animals.”At age 13, Armstrong is a five-year 4-H member and a veteran of such Saturday mornings, when fair contestants bring their animals to the various barns. And, unlike the scene at many fairs, practically all of the animals will stay at the barns throughout the fair’s week-long run.For many, it’s always a busy morning.“We just, like, get everything ready,” Armstrong said. “We just wash them (the animals) and bring them in. We decorate our pens.”The kids aren’t the only ones with jobs to do. Volunteers at each barn check in the animals to make sure the right animals are in the right places. Helping people like Armstrong at the Swine Barn Saturday morning were seven volunteers – Robin Roberts, Amanda Wilson, Tammy Jean, Eric Flinn, Alan Chase, Brad Cummings and Logan Turner.“It’s always hectic, but it’s going pretty smooth,” Turner said. “They’ve got the trailers going in the right direction – that’s the big thing.”Directing the line of trailer-hauling pickups and SUVs was Dave Redman, Lawrence County extension educator. The vehicles made a traffic jam of sorts, traveling clockwise around the fairgrounds and stopping at the appropriate barns.Redman said the seeming chaos follows an order that was established long ago.The animals are already marked in various ways: birds wear bans, cows sport ear tags, pigs have ear notches, rabbits have tattoos and so forth.The 4-H members and their animals also are already signed up for the appropriate shows before they get to the fairgrounds.“The kids have already been assigned a pen,” he said outside the Swine Barn, “so they know right where their animals are supposed to go.”Armstrong and her animal will spend a lot of time at their pen during the next week. The teenager said she will go to her Leesvbille home to sleep. Otherwise, she’ll be at the fair.And that will mean taking the pig on more trips to the washing stall.“I’ll probably wash him every other day,” she said.
