Three little pigs no fairy tale
Elvis a big hit during 2007 Bi-County Fair

Derrick Forkner of Gallup bounces down an inflatable slide on Saturday at the Bi-County Fair in Prewitt. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

By Jim Tiffin
Staff writer

PREWITT — It is a new version of the “Three Little Pigs,” with them taking first, second and third places, for two young cousins at the Cibola McKinley Bi-County Fair this year.

Elvis was one of the three and made a final appearance at the fair on Saturday. She, that’s right, Elvis is a she, took first place in her category during the market pig class competition.

The cousins picked her and two other pigs from litters several months ago during a pig auction in preparation for the fair.

Megan Heaton, 10, from Bluewater, a Red Rock 4-H Club member and her cousin, Mackenzie Usrey, 8, competed with Elvis, Izzy and Wilbur, the three pigs they showed at the fair.

Megan’s mother, Shanna Lopez, who works at Gurley Motors in Gallup, and is the fleet sales manager, said Megan and Mackenzie together picked out the runts of the litter, two of which were sisters.

Megan said she enjoys being in 4-H because she likes woodworking, showing animals and “all kinds of stuff.”

“We don’t have a barn but we are thinking of making one for the pigs,” she said. “Pigs are fun, you get to walk them, pet them and talk to them.”

Her older sister Courtney, 14, also a member of Red Rock 4-H, does woodworking and this year made a bookcase, with horseshoes — also made of wood — as decorative pieces on top.

Brittany Power, 12, of Thoreau, a member of the Trailblazers 4-H Club, placed out of the money this year, with two pigs finishing in sixth and not at all, during competition. Generally only the top three places in all livestock categories go to the sale.

Brittany also said pigs are fun, especially since she gets to play with them.

Her older sister Kendra, 15, took fourth and seventh places in the two competitions she participated. The oldest sister of the three, Brooke, 16, was playing in an away soccer game and unable to attend the fair.

Canned goods entries ‘exploded’
Carolie Watkins, superintendent of the canned goods and also vegetables this year, said entries were up dramatically in both areas.

There were 265 entries in the home-grown fruits and vegetables category, and 88 entries in the canned goods area.

“The fruits and vegetables area was up about 25 percent more and canned goods were up about 60 percent more,” she said.

“Word of mouth, people telling each other to enter, was the main reason for the upsurge.

“This was one of the biggest years we’ve had, especially the junior division, it really exploded with entries,” she said.

Best of Show
Coral Wallace, 16, of Gallup, and a member of the Red Rock 4-H Club, entered and competed with two pigs, two lambs, one ceramic piece and three jars of canned jams and jelly.

She said she has been in 4-H for seven years and likes to ride her horse, and learns a lot, especially about leadership, by being in the club.

She is president of Red Rock 4-H, and attends a week long 4-H leadership camp every summer.

She plays soccer for Gallup High School and elected to go to the fair instead of playing with her team this year.

In the livestock competitions, Coral took a third and fourth place with both her two pigs and two lambs.

She took best of show for her canned goods for the junior division, Watkins said.

“I live next door to Carolie (Watkins) and she told me about canning. I looked on the Internet and learned how to do it and entered one strawberry-rhubarb preserves, one blackberry jam and one jelly,” she said.

“It’s too bad, they (4-H leaders) don’t teach canning, or sewing anymore,” Watkins said.

Coral said she made enough canned jams and jellies that she and her family will be eating them at home for awhile.

Judging
Adele Sullenger, from Gallup, is a judge for the fair. This was her second year judging canned goods and she also helped out with fruits and vegetables.

“It was hard to judge,” she said. “There were a lot of entries and they were good. I look for color, texture and eye appeal when I judge. The canned good has to be sealed properly or it won’t be judged and it has to have a certain amount of air space at the top of the jar.”

There were a lot of well-grown gourds and many of them had excellent decorative designs, she said.

The fair ended Monday with the sale of livestock to area residents and businesses.

Four-H youth take the money they earn from the sale and most put a lot of it away for college. Some of the older teenage girls said they take some of the money and go shopping.

The Bi-County Fair Board will be electing a new president tin October. By-laws were changed this summer to allow a president to be elected one year at a time.

Current President Dee Anne Leyba said she is not going to run for re-election.

“After two years it is someone else’s turn,” she said.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call 287-2197 or e- mail:
jtiffin,independent@yahoo.com