At the Stanislaus County Fair, it's a 4-H affair

Students, animals team up for displays

By RICHARD T. ESTRADA
restrada@modbee.com

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VALLEY HOME — Cooperation is crucial to Melissa Thompson's success when she steps in the ring with her best friend — an 850-pound Red Angus heifer.

"I weigh about 85 pounds, so I have to work with her to get her to do what I want," Melissa says. "No way am I going to be able to force her to move. She's too big!"

The 11-year-old, who lives near Woodward Reservoir in eastern Stanislaus County, will get the chance to display that cooperation at the county fair, which opens Friday in Turlock.

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Whether it's 80 degrees or 102, Melissa will be in a white outfit — pants, long-sleeved shirt and a green kerchief round her neck — and hoping to impress the judges with her leadership ability and her animal's appearance.

She'll be one of hundreds of 4-H kids bringing more than 2,000 animals — everything from tiny bantam hens to monstrous Hereford bulls — to the fairground in hopes of getting a blue ribbon.

Few are facing a size disparity as great as Melissa: She's giving up 765 pounds to her stout heifer.

"My family owns cows, so I've learned to handle big animals," she says. "It's important to keep them from walking too fast. You need to keep them at your pace."

Melissa's sisters don't have to worry about being overpowered by their animals: 13-year-old Tiffany is bringing sheep to the fair, and 10-year-old Denise will be presenting sheep and rabbits.

It will be Tiffany's fourth year at the fair, but Denise's first trip.

"I'm bringing Dutch rabbits," says Denise, stroking the soft fur on her animal's neck. "Color and muscle, they're both important. Judges want a clear line where the color goes white to gray, and they don't want a fat rabbit."

Tiffany first showed sheep at the fair when she was 9 and has spent the last four years breeding animals for specific traits.

"Square shoulders, with a long square back and lots of muscle," says Tiffany, describing the look of a blue ribbon-winning sheep. "But it's not just the animal. The judges also watch you to see how you perform. We're like a team."

That's why Jolene Thompson introduced her daughters to 4-H. (The FFA is similar, but it's linked to high schools, while 4-H members are from a geographic region.)

Mom was an 11-year 4-H veteran in Yuba City, learning lessons she continues to use today.

"It teaches you about responsibility and business," Thompson says, noting her daughters feed and exercise the animals twice daily. "They keep records on the feed and how much it costs, and how much the animals are growing."

The goal is for the girls to recognize decisions that make money and those that lose money: A percentage of the money generated when the girls sell their animals goes into their college fund.

But it's more than a business.

There's still anguish when the fair ends and animals are sold at auction. Melissa will get to keep her heifer — animals considered breeding stock are allowed to go home — but she and her sisters will say farewell to their sheep.

"That's not fun, knowing they will become meat," says Melissa, who will show sheep as well as her heifer. "You spend so much time together that they become a friend, then you say goodbye."

Before that happens, though, it will be a frantic week.

The animals begin arriving at the fairground's eight livestock barns over the next few days, and the event culminates Aug. 2 with the 44th Junior Livestock Auction.

Denise could be one of the first to compete, with junior rabbit judging scheduled for Saturday.

"I get so excited about taking my rabbits to the fair that sometimes I can't sleep," Denise says. "I can't wait for it to get here."

For the daily schedule of livestock judging, visit www.stancofair.com/planyourfair.html.

Bee staff writer Richard T. Estrada can be reached at restrada@modbee.com or 578-2304.