Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.
Promotional Rates were found for your code.
Business DirectoryToday's Ads Classifieds Jobs Items for Sale Yard SalesReal EstateYour Local Autos
John Eaken, 13, a member of Warriors Mark 4-H, leads his calf Jimmy to his stall. John has raised Jimmy from a weeks-only newborn.
Rayann Walls pauses to visit with her lambs, Ace and Dice, that will be sold at today’s Junior Livestock Sale at the Huntingdon County Fair.
John Eaken, 13, a member of Warriors Mark 4-H, leads his calf Jimmy to his stall. John has raised Jimmy from a weeks-only newborn.
Rayann Walls pauses to visit with her lambs, Ace and Dice, that will be sold at today’s Junior Livestock Sale at the Huntingdon County Fair.
For some, the Huntingdon County Fair is but a week-long diversion where they can drift on and off the fairgrounds at leisure. For them, fair week is a time of leisure, days filled with funnel cake, midway rides and fun.
Fair week for the many 4-H youth who step into the show ring, the seven-day stretch marks the end of a months-long ride of emotion, expense, hard work and personal growth. For them, the lights and sounds of the midway, along with the banquet of vendor food, is part of a bittersweet celebration of the journey’s end.
Walking the fairgrounds late Thursday morning, John Eaken, 13, a member of Warriors Mark 4-H, was sitting outside a stall with his friend Ryleigh Holmes, 12. The boys were playing UNO.
“We’ve upped the stakes,” said Holmes. “The one who loses buys lunch.”
They agreed, no matter who ends up buying, lunch was coming from the 4-H booth.
John was in the show ring Wednesday with “Jimmy,” a Holstein calf that snoozed inside the stall a few feet from where the boys played cards.
John recalled how he first received his calf from the Penn State dairy farm. First, he named him “Jimmy,” in honor of his grandfather and exercised the calf until he was steady on his hooves, had Jimmy dehorned and castrated and got into feeding routines to help Jimmy reach competitive proportions in time for fair week.
Five months later, stepping into the show ring with Jimmy at his side was its own reward.
“You feel like you’ve finally worked up to what you need to do,” he said. John got 6th and 5th place for showmanship. Jimmy was 2nd in his weight class.
Ryleigh serves as squire in a way, helping out as needed by John the competitor in the ring. Ryleigh isn’t showing animals, at least not yet.
“I’m working on it,” John said.
Ryleigh confirmed John’s encouragement is succeeding but he plans to start small.
“I’d like to try rabbits,” he said.
Rayann Walls, 17, a member of Tyrone Area FFA, brought two market lambs and one breeding sheep to the Huntingdon County Fair.
Last year, she helped out a friend who had twin lambs to show. This year marks her first year in the ring with her own lambs, Dice and Ace.
Dice and Ace were born in February and came into Rayann’s care in March. She said they will enter today’s big sale. Rayann’s hope is to at least break-even on the expenses she’s incurred raising the wether lambs.
Dice is a Dorset and Ace is a Suffolk-Dorset cross. While buyers come to sale day for various reasons, Rayann said due to the pair’s weight, she expects Dice and Ace will be bought with the intention of having them butchered.
Her breeding sheep, a Corriedale, will accompany her to future fairs and shows so she can network with others looking to breed.
Rayann said her time with the two lambs and lone sheep amounts to a lot of work but also a lot of rewards, including being part of a community of FFA and 4-H members.
“It is so rewarding to return to the fair and see everybody’s projects they’ve been working on,” she said. “It’s a pure bliss moment.”
When Dice and Ace hit the auction block, Rayann admits it will be “hard to let them go” but she’s in the same boat as most 4-H and FFA youth who raise livestock for fair week. She’s preparing for the bittersweet moment while looking ahead to further adventures with her Corriedale.
Not all relationships between livestock and their keepers are short term. Kelly Bliss and her cow Daisy are in for the long haul, having practically grown up together.
Kelly is 17 and Daisy is 7.
“I raised her from a bottle baby,” Kelly, 17, of Calvin and a member of Captain Jack FFA, said.
As a Jersey, Daisy is one of a breed which Kelly says is the smallest among the dairy cows and is famous for producing milk high in fat content.
“It’s really good for butter and cheese,” she said.
Daisy started a winning streak this year, having earned the title of reverse grand champion of her breed, a distinction she earned at the 2021 fair as well.
Daisy was far from guaranteed a win, despite her merits, Kelly said.
“You never know what the competition is going to be like,” she said, adding she hopes Daisy can continue her streak.
Sunday, Michael Morse, 12, of the James Creek area, earned reserve grand champion status for his woodworking skills.
Using three types of wood — black walnut, cherry and maple — all selected from a family friend who runs a woodshop, Michael’s first task in the construction of his award-winning cutting board was cutting, assembling and gluing the pieces together.
He said the project was a far cry from the birdhouse he made for last year’s competition. For his cutting board, patience played a key role. After the board was assembled and clapped, Michael had to walk away from the project for about three weeks to let the pieces fully adhere.
Mike said his favorite moment throughout the process, which also involved sanding and smoothing the board, was oiling the near-finished piece and watching the grain and colors “pop.”
Mike said he’d had another moment, in the final days before the start of fair week, when he thought he might not be ready in time for completion.
The beeswax he used as a final sealant — which makes the cutting board food-safe — didn’t arrive until Thursday, just three day ahead of the fair’s traditional Sunday start. High humidity didn’t help matters.
“I had two box fans blowing on it,” he said. “Luckily, it dried.”
Rebecca can be reached at dnews@huntingdondailynews.com.
Rebecca can be reached at dnews@huntingdondailynews.com.
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 79F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..
Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Get late-breaking news soon after it happens.
Get news updates each day.