Raegan Milheim led her Scottish Blackface sheep named Ruby into the ring. Eli Mensinger walked his Holstein named Batman through the cattle barn. Savanha Lorson soaped up her goat, Idaho.
The Columbia County teenagers wait all year for this week. Beyond the fried foods, amusement rides and carnival games, the Bloomsburg Fair provides lessons in leadership, responsibility and community to the several hundred children and teens showing animals this week.
Youth participation at the annual event — the largest agricultural fair in Pennsylvania — has increased the last several years, according to Jeff Giger, the fair’s superintendent of livestock. The increase mirrors national trends of more youth showing interest in agriculture and the origin of their food.
Most schools in the county close for either part or the full week of the fair. But for many of the young handlers, this week is still about education. The 171st Bloomsburg Fair runs through Saturday.
“I like seeing the smiles on kids' faces when they get to see a sheep,” said Raegan, 15, of Berwick. “The kids that are showing the animals, they love what they're doing.”
Ready for auction
The public can view about 1,300 animals — not counting chicken and rabbits — at this year’s fair. Teens show several hundred of those animals. Livestock wiggled and dryers hummed before Tuesday’s judging of 4-H sheep and goats.
Savanha, a 13-year-old eighth grader from Benton, lathered her goat, Idaho.
“I gotta soap them up, get them ready, and get them sheared for 12,” she said.
Like many animals, Idaho will go to auction at the end of this week.
“It's kind of sad because you get to bond with them and get them all ready, and then you got to sell them,” Savanha said. “But it's good because then you get next year's animals … you get to bond with them too.”
Through the week, handlers compete for ribbons and banners. At the end of the fair, many will part from the animals they’ve raised.
“But a lot of them, they'll make money, and then they'll buy another animal for next year,” Giger said. “It's a whole learning process.”
Lessons learned
Members of 4-H walked Zebu cattle — most recognizable by the humps on their backs — around the outdoor ring.
Allen Dohl works for the fair’s livestock department and served as the session’s announcer. He’s worked around the fair long enough that he’s seen multiple generations grow up showing animals.
Many of the youth show through 4-H. Some are members of FFA, the organization formerly known as Future Farmers of America — which boasts record enrollment nationwide. Others work on their family farms. All provide lifelong lessons, Dohl said.
“It's the skills they learn to bring them here. It's the responsibilities. It's the care. It's the respect for their animals and for others. It's all of those things that allow them to become stable citizens, and I don't mean that in the sense of barn stables ... I mean as in stability,” he said.
He loves watching the students become the teachers, as they speak to curious fair attendees.
“There are a lot of people who are dog and cat people who can't understand how to raise a sheep, a goat, a pig, a horse, a cow,” Dohl said. “But there are tons of dedicated farm people across this nation that are doing exactly that, and we would be in great hurt without them. It's just a definite way of life.”
Teaching others
William Cragle loves to teach passersby about the White Dexter cattle from Valley Smith Farms. The 16-year-old high school junior from Middleburg, Snyder County, serves as vice president of his school’s FFA chapter.
He shows a heifer named Penny and explains that the breed is smaller and can produce milk and can be trained like oxen.
“There's always a place in agriculture for everyone,” he said. “It doesn't matter whether you have a small operation, big operation. We should all come together and really showcase our breeds and have a great time.”
He walked Penny to the outdoor arena. Some of the almost 40,000 people who attended the fair on Tuesday gathered around to learn.
'Learn by doing'
A banner for 4-H and FFA hangs in one of the arenas, encouraging children to “learn by doing.”
“They learn animals,” Giger said. “They learn how to work with people. They learn work ethic.”
Batman the Holstein taught Eli Mensinger about patience and perseverance. The Central Columbia freshman needed to gain the trust of the skittish cow.
Eli started with feeding the cow slowly, encouraging Batman to move closer and become comfortable. The pair earned grand champion at the Northumberland County Fair last month. He earned a third-place award this week.
“You’ve got to be patient. You're not always going to win,” Eli said. “But if you're here having fun with your steers, having fun showing, then it's a blast.”
IF YOU GO
● The Bloomsburg Fair runs through Saturday. Gates are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
● For more information, visit https://bloomsburgfair.com.
