Seventeen oinkers, five baaaas and six moos made up the 4-H sale on the Mineral County Fairgrounds Aug. 1.

No fair or rodeo this summer, but 28 young men and women still raised pigs, lambs and steers that brought the county together and even before the auction, a feeling of community was obvious.

People deeply miss seeing each other and this event was the first time some neighbors have visited since March. Auctioneer Jim Ellis from Victor, and Dave Brink, MSU Extension Agent for Mineral County welcomed the crowd and explained how the buy-back policy worked with Superior Meats and that this year there would not be pictures taken of the buyer, 4-H member and animal.

“Call it the COVID year,” snickered Ellis.

Before he started rattling off dollar amounts to start the bidding process, each 4-H member took the mic for a brief introduction of themselves and any remarks they’d care to share. “Thank you so much for coming today to support us” in different variations was genuine and stated by everyone. “She was a great friend, but I didn’t like all of the work it took.” “It’s been a good experience.” “This was my first year but next year I’m going to raise a lamb” as you could hear their humble pride and witness their commitment to continue doing this as long as they are eligible, even if it was a lot of work.

And it was, for every one of them.

Which is where the generosity of the community came in when prices per pound were paid which covered expenses and started or added to the college funds.

There were 48 businesses and individuals pre-registered to bid so you can do the math and see some left empty handed. But you know that they raised their hands which raised the final price, and many had donated prior to the auction so each contestant would receive a little more money than what the winning bid paid.

Those donations were a surprise bonus to those young livestock entrepreneurs who raised their critter 24/7 in every type of weather possible.

There wasn’t a sound system to play the national anthem, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if there had been, cowboy hats off with hand-over-hearts would be honored by everyone who were at the back arena of the Mineral County Fairgrounds.

Here are the 4-H participants, listed by animal species, ribbon, weight and bidder.

Swine

Bailey Hansen, blue, 340, MIH Construction

Emma Traeder, red, 209, Western States Cat

Decker Milender, purple, 240, CAH Solutions Group

Landon Hansen, purple, 280, Darlow’s Foods

Meikolani Ruthford, blue, 255, Energy Partners

Ryder Hansen, blue, 290, Haskins Excavating

Phineas Cataldo, blue, 250, St. Clair Construction

Lucas Kovalsky, purple, 270, White Horse Forestry

Ryder Haskins, purple, 245, Hollenback Investments

Carter McLees, red, 235, Shyrock

Bailey Milender, purple, 285, TrailWest Bank

Turner Milender, blue, 265, Quartz Warehouse (Darlow’s Foods buy back)

Kodi Kelly, Reserve Champion, 250, MIH Construction

Payton Milender, blue, 255, Meadow Creek Contracting

Kaydi Erickson, red, 295, TrailWest Bank

Chet Hill, red, 250, Haskins Excavating

Taylor Haskins, Grand Champion, 270, Big Sky Motel

Sheep

Kaleb Park, Grand Champion, 131, Idaho Forest Group

Lane DiGiando, Reserve Champion, 111, Phil and Diane DiGiando

Luca DiGiando, blue, 125, Carole Johnson

Truman Traeder, blue, 106, HeyerUs, LLC.

Jimmie Kelly, blue, 112, Jeff Kuntz

Steer

Macy Hill, Reserve Champion, 1,250, Jason Marks

Beef

Heather Haskins, Grand Champion, 1,480, Reep, Bell and Jasper

Danner Haskins, blue, 1,330, Alpine Development

Colton Todd, red, 1,040, Darlow’s Foods

Wyatt Todd, red, 1,240, Idaho Forest Group

Darby Haskins, blue, 1,425, Superior Traffic Services