The Ronan Fairgrounds were bustling July 22-29 for the Lake County Fair, with kids leading sheep, beef, and dairy cattle, carrying chickens and rabbits, and unloading their pigs off the trailer. Horses, dogs, and cats came in just to show and then (whew) went home to sleep it off.

First the kids wheelbarrowed in loads of sweet-smelling sawdust to bed their animals, then the critters checked out their temporary quarters and settled down to wait for dinner – hay, grain, and water – brushing, daily walks, trips to the water tank and the clipping chute, and abundant baths.

Even though 4-H and FFA youngsters were busy, there was still time to hang out with friends, slurp snow cones, and keep the aisles swept in the barns.

Mother Nature cooled the temperature down a bit from the french-frying heat of the week before, and fans and mist kept the barns cool for the animals and people. The poultry and rabbit barn had cool water running on its tin roof, and a frozen water bottle for each furry bunny to snuggle and keep cool.

Fair manager Sjaan Vincent and her fair crew of Kim and Elsie Detert and Kaden Larance worked hard to prepare the grounds, mowing, watering, maintaining buildings and fixtures, and moving panels. When the fair began, those labors continued, but they also set up sound systems, tables, and anything needed for the different animal shows.

Fair secretary Adele Vincent kept all the classes straight and printed contestant numbers, working with MSU Extension executive assistant Taylor Mullen and MSU Extension Consumer Sciences/4-H Agent Claudia Andrade.

Concession stand crew

Another group of people deserve a lot of credit for the fair – volunteers. Jennifer Davis and Judy Smith tagged team 4-H concession stand supervisor duties. Asked how many hours she put in, Davis said she didn’t want to compute those because it would make her cry.

Smith fell and injured her shoulder last week so she was working with a sling on her arm and a smile on her face, still making amazing food.

Each of the 4-H clubs in Lake County signed up for a shift in the concession stand and the drinks stand, and all of them showed up, according to Davis and Smith.

With 4-H kids come parents. Even though members are the ones who sign up for 4-H projects, it’s a family endeavor. FFA members also usually take a turn.

“We had some awesome moms,” Davis said.

“On Thursday night, I had a fantastic group of dads,” Smith said.’There wasn’t a mom in the group.”

Not only do the youngsters make and keep a time commitment, but before their first time in the concession stand, Davis has a training session to teach concession-stand skills, such as handwashing, complete with glow-in-the-dark gel and a black light to see who got their hands clean.

The kids all wear 4-H green aprons, learn to count change, be friendly with customers, mark down orders, operate the cash register, bus tables, deliver hot food, sweep floors, and do dishes.

Younger kids particularly enjoy marking down orders on the selection sheets. The older kids help the younger ones learn, and the older kids have more complicated duties like stocking the coolers and making ice cream cones.

The view from the barns

Other volunteers are barn superintendents, who are usually 4-H leaders. This year’s crop included Brandy Wallace, rabbit superintendent; Lynzi Reum, poultry superintendent; Christina and Megan Evelo, a mother/daughter team as beef superintendents; and Beth and Tim Anderson, swine barn superintendents.

Erika Mitchell is a fairly new goat superintendent, and shared a barn with Teresa Cullis, an old hand as sheep superintendent.

“We have a fun barn,” Mitchell said, explaining that the kids all help each other.

With input with some of the other superintendents, she put together a checklist for herdsmanship candidates, because superintendents are tasked with choosing the youngster who took the best care of his or her animal, kept the critter(s) fed and watered, cleaned stalls regularly, and kept their animals cleaned up and comfortable. Some youngsters are just naturally helpful and nice with other new or younger members, and that counts towards herdsmanship, too.

Wallace was enthusiastic about serving as rabbit superintendent. “The kids this year have been really on top of cleaning, feeding, and giving ice bottles. They are really into their rabbits, and it’s exciting to see.”

“They are rabbit people, and rabbit people are good people,” she added.

Due to transportation issues, Wallace’s own children didn’t bring any rabbits to the fair. But Noah, Caleb, Naomi, and Rebekah were there all week, Wallace said, “helping clean animals that weren’t theirs, and sweeping the floors. They were hard workers.”

Then there’s the Kid Zone, an all-volunteer fun pit, located on the northwest corner of the fairgrounds by the warm-up arena. Bouncy houses, volleyball nets, tents, water stations, and tempting food concessions were set up for kids on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the day.

Lake County Fair Auction

It’s bittersweet for 4-H and FFA members, but the auction is part of the project. On Thursday, July 27 at 7 p.m. auctioneer Travis Jeppesen started the auction off selling Kealyn Cahoon's grand champion market beef steer. Then the animals alternated – beef, swine, lamb – through the 40 steers, 56 hogs, and 16 lambs.

Volunteers from the Market Committee organized the event, which was held in the rodeo arena. They used panels to make an auction ring, moved in bleachers, created a lane from the swine barn to the ring, and lined up the beef critters on one side of the ring and the lambs on the other. The youngsters knew how to go into the ring, to lead their animals around, and where to exit.

Kid Zone

Pastor Kelly Mitchell and his wife, Erika, from Pablo Baptist Church started the Kid Zone when they moved to the area and noticed there wasn’t much for kids to do during the Lake County Fair. The Mitchells’ five children have been or are now in 4-H.

This year water games were a popular activity on a warm afternoon, and the Kid Zone also had a “bad guy” scavenger hunt, according to one small participant.

Youth who completed activities got tickets for free carnival food. And really, what’s a fair without fun, cotton candy and snow cones, and looking at critters?

And what’s a fair without all the volunteers who help make the Lake County Fair the highlight of summer for kids and families up and down the Mission Valley?