norman
country-financial
March 28, 2024 3:15 am
Your hometown Newspaper since 1987.
Search
Close this search box.

Many Hands Make Light Work For Livestock Show Setup

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

A large crowd of youngsters, parents and leaders showed up to the Clark County Fairgrounds livestock pavilion to help in setting up pens for the upcoming Jr. Livestock Show at the fair. Photo by Maggie McMurray

The busiest place in Moapa Valley on Saturday morning was likely the Glen Hardy Livestock Building at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Hundreds of 4-H and FFA kids, families and leaders gathered to set up pens at the livestock barn as preparation begins for the Junior Livestock show at the Clark County Fair. The pens will remain in place from now until the big event in April.

Assembling the pens is an annual labor of love for the many kids. During the show, it is important that the animals have a safe and comfortable environment in which to rest and eat. Due to the large number of animals expected this year, that means that there must be hundreds of individual panels assembled. Specialty pens must also be assembled for the future grand and reserve champions. It is a daunting amount of work each January. And if enough help doesn’t come, it can take board members and leaders hours to put up by themselves.

This year, however, there was an outstanding turnout of energetic kids and families. Pens were quickly and correctly assembled without incident, making the whole undertaking go very smoothly.

Local kids came out in heavy numbers, but they were also joined by fellow 4-H members from Mesquite and Las Vegas who came to help share the work. Things were helped along by CCJLA vice-president Justin Hardy, who brought a tractor to move pallets of the heavy panels into and out of the buildings.

There was a feeling of excitement and good will in the barns. Everyone pitched in and worked until the job was done, from the very young first-year showmen to seasoned veterans.

“We came to help this morning because it’s our first year and we’re learning the ropes,” said Lorrie Paice, whose grandson AJ is a first-year goat showman. “It’s important to show up for the work as well as the fun because it’s part of being involved. It’s fun to meet and get to know people at activities like this, so it’s been a good experience.”

Young kids worked as hard as the more seasoned folk. Degan Shaner, 9, from Mesquite said, “It’s my first year showing a pig so I am really excited to get to help out.”
Torrance Sherman, 12, said that she is particularly excited for the show because she gets to show her pig, Hamlet, in the ring.

Reese Peterson, 13, said, “This is my first year. I wanted to do 4-H because I really like animals and I thought pigs were really cute.”

Peterson named her pig Cujo because he bit her when she first got him.

Seasoned showmen were more pragmatic about the event. Cassidie Jones from Moapa Valley FFA said, “It’s always exciting to start a new year. I like my lamb better this year because he’s definitely easier to get along with than my one last year. I think overall that this year’s project will be more successful in the long run and getting up early to come help set up pens is part of the project.”

Those in charge were happy with the enthusiastic turnout. Swine stewards Kevin and Heather Pratt said, “We’re grateful to everyone who showed up so we could get this done really quickly this year. We’re excited to see how many pigs we get next week.”

CCJLA President Corey Houston was pleased with the turnout and the amount of work many of the kids put in. “We had a lot of kids come and really worked hard,” he said. “I was impressed at how hard even the young girls worked and their moms as well. I think in many cases they outworked the men and boys! It was impressive.”

CCJLA Vice-President Justin Hardy concluded, “We’re so grateful for everyone that came and helped. It made everything go really smoothly and quickly and it looks great. We’re all set up now and excited to see what this fair season brings.”

The next CCJLA event will happen this Saturday, January 20, at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Weigh-in for all pig, goat, and sheep projects will take place from 8:00 – 11:00 am.
The weigh-in will be followed by a potluck picnic lunch for all 4-H and FFA members and their families. Hot dogs will be provided by the Glen Hardy family and 4-H and FFA families are asked to each bring a side dish or dessert to share.

The annual preshow clinic will follow directly after the lunch, beginning with the steer classes, and will continue until all species have shown.

Print This Article:

Share This Article:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Screen Shot 2023-02-05 at 10.55.46 PM
2-21-2024-fullpagefair
4 Youth Service WEB
2-28-2024 WEB Hole Foods St Patricks
No data was found
2023 WEB BANNER 2 DEFAULT AD whitneyswater
Mesquite Works Web Ad 10-2020
Scroll to Top
Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Get notified about new articles