Area 4-H’ers ready for annual fair
Courtney Spencer works with one of her lambs at her home in Prewitt on Monday afternoon. This will be Spencer's fourth year showing at the Bi-County Fair, which begins this weekend. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

PREWITT — The annual Cibola-McKinley Bi-County Fair is upon us.This Labor Day weekend, more than 150 4-H youth from both Cibola and McKinley counties will be displaying their large animals, including: Pigs, sheep, steers and goats.
Dozens of projects will be entered in the 4-H Indoor Exhibits, which showcases talents such as: Quilting, baking, woodworking, leather craft, ceramics and more. That section has been moved into the main building and is now in the former banquet room.
“I wanted visitors and the buyers to see that 4-H’ers do more than just animals, so we moved it into the buyer’s lunch room for them to be able to look at the projects while they eat. Or, even just walk around and look at the projects,” Kathy Landers, Cooperative Extension agent for McKinley County said.
The Open Division, which allows anyone, whether a 4-H Club member or not to enter, also features baking, quilting, but adds photography, and canned vegetables and goods. The Open Division is charging a $1 entry fee for the first time, Dee Anne Leyba, president of the fair board, said. Increasing costs of everything require that the fair charge this modest entry fee and 4-H club members have been paying the entry fees for both animals and indoor projects for years.
She also said the horseshoe pitching contest at 10 a.m., Sunday, which also has a slight entry fee, is offering silver buckles as prizes.
See the office at the fair Friday through Sunday morning for entries.
Local gardeners also vie for top finishes in homegrown vegetables.
4-H is more than animals
“Come out and see what these 4-H club youth are doing, 4-H is not just large animals, it is much more,” she said.
“These kids work on the projects and animals all year round and they’re not out drinking or doing other stuff,” she said.
“The fair is about the kids and their families,” she said.
Jimmy Plane, Cooperative Extension agent for Cibola County, said this year’s fair will be a good one and invites the public to attend, if not every day, at least one day. Admission is free to the public every day.
The fair board runs the concession stand and made to order hamburgers and cheeseburgers, hot dogs, nachos and many other items are available. All proceeds go toward operating the fair.
Watermelon eating contest, pet show
A watermelon-eating contest, which is Saturday afternoon, following the steer show in the show ring, is a sight to see.
On Sunday morning the pet show, which allows any kind of pets and has seen the likes of Iguana lizards, as well as the fiddler’s contest, return again this year.
Candy Williams, a leader with the Ridgerunner 4-H Club in Cibola County, said her three children and her niece are entering the fair with a number of rabbits, chickens and ducks.
Williams said her family breed chickens and the ones that do not lay eggs are used for meals.
That is the case for just about every animal at he fair, it is fair game to be made into a meal for someone.
The annual sale is Sunday and anyone can purchase a steer, a pig, lamb, rabbit or chicken, and all of the money paid to 4-H members for their animals is tax deductible, Landers said.
Volunteer and fair information: (505) 863-3432.
On the Net: http://bi-countyfair.com/
To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.