07/27/2024
30+ events (Dog, horse, rabbit, chicken, goat, sheep, hog, cattle and even llama shows, tractor pulls, rodeos, pageants, and probably some other things I'm forgetting) Fairs starting July 10th and wrapping up the 22nd, 54,856 photos from the 12 days and wrapping up editing and posting on July 26th. I made it, holy smokes.
There are people who say they don't have faith in the next generation, and to that I say go to a county fair and spend time with these kids. I over hear a lot, I'm kind of a fly on the wall hiding in plain sight with my gigantic camera. I hear friends rooting for each other despite being in the same class, I hear kids who just showed against each other asking one another to lend a hand with an extra animal in the ring. I hear siblings cheering for each other even when it means one placed better than the other. These kids are truly inspiring, you can feel the dedication they have. I'm convinced that the ag industry is in the best hands
Here are some of the sayings I jotted down in my notes I heard kids say or saw them do over the past few weeks:
Ida County Fair Queen Abby Else donated ALL the proceeds from her ribbons at the sale to go to the cattle barn, she then proceeded to raise $8,000 for the new lead calf barns.
4-Her's (and FFA members) constantly asking if I needed a water or anything.
"Don't worry I have your horse, YOU go get some water and take a deep breath. We will be here when you get back," A 4-Her to another 4-Her when her horse was acting up.
"Get Brownie some treats, she listened better than me in the ring!"
*Big brother to a little sister before she went in with her bucket calf* "Do you remember how to set your calf up like I showed you? Here let me show you again,"
*Big sister mumbling about how little brother was showing* "That's it, he did it, he won the class. I'm so proud of him!"
"Pull your calf up a step, he's too spread out." Then explained later that he wanted to make sure the gal was showing her calf to its best potential because it was the nicest calf in the ring (mind you he was showing against her) and then gave her a huge high five and congratulated her when she won the class.
"It's okay, you showed your butt off but sometimes the judges opinion doesn't line up with ours and that's okay. We'll go home, practice and be better next year" A big brother to a little brother.
"I'm so proud of you" I heard kids of all ages saying this, and parents too of course!
There was plenty more, but these kids blow me away every year. It's truly an honor to get to watch them grow up in front of my camera lens.