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Interactive Small Animals Exhibit Remains A Big Favorite

Interactive Small Animals Exhibit Remains A Big Favorite
By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published April 15, 2009

The Small Animals and Agricultural Pavilion was a big crowd pleaser once again this year at the Clark County Fair. The fair has worked hard in reent years to make the Small Animals and Agricultural pavilion a more meaningful experience for fairgoers.

“County fairs used to be for agriculture; for the display of local produce and livestock,” said Dennis Hellwinkel a volunteer for the Nevada Agricultural Council who coordinates the agricultural exhibition area. “But today, with our

Jakob and Gabriel Aki get to play with a cute pair of pygmy goats in the Small Animals pavilion on Saturday at the Clark County Fair.
highly urbanized society, fairs have become more about agriculture, to help people understand where their food and fiber comes from.”

Agricultural displays were designed to educate the public. The Agricultural Council sponsored a Kids Garden exhibit. One corner of the large building was set aside so that children could dig in the dirt for hidden vegetables finding potatoes, carrots, onions and other produce. “That is a very popular exhibit with the kids,” Hellwinkel said. “We anticipate that we will go through about 1600 lbs of vegetables this weekend.” Other agricultural exhibits were sponsored by the Nevada Farm Bureau, Dairy Council and Beef Council. R.C. Farms sponsored an exhibit which showed a mother pig with a litter of piglets. This up-close view of livestock was a favorite among the children.

The small animals exhibit was also a great success. “We were able to fill all of the display cages,” said small animals coordinator Mike Uri. “It is the biggest show we have had in a long time.”

The show included about 150 birds, 20 goats, 40 rabbits, 2 lambs, 3 pot bellied pigs and an assortment of guinea pigs, hedgehogs, snakes and reptiles. Participants included 4-H group members from Pahrump, Las Vegas, Mesquite and southern Utah.

“This is different from the livestock exhibit where they raise them for people to buy and eat,” Uri said. “In a lot of cases these are people’s pets and they are proud of them.”

Uri told of a little girl who entered her duck into the show. “It was a really ugly duck,” he said. “But she was so happy that she got a little ribbon. She was doing cartwheels up and down the aisles.”

Many animals on display in the building were not part of the juried exhibits but were just there for people to enjoy. Uri brought a goose to the building, a remarkably friendly bird named Ducky (his young daughter named it that because she couldn’t yet say the word goose). Ducky was often allowed to wander the building getting plenty of attention from children and their parents.

Volunteer Kaluna Aki brought a pair of very soft pygmy goats which belong to his sister, Josefina Romero. Fully grown at little more than a foot high, these two were brought out for folks to pet and interact with. They made a hit among fairgoers of all ages.

“This is what the small animals exhibit should be about,” Uri said. “Letting people touch and interact with these animals. The people love it. The kids love it. That is why this building is always full of people.”

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