By: Betty Holcomb
It was a hot weekend in Clay as 60 participants started coming in on Friday, July 28 to check their animals in for the 2023 Clay County Ag Fair. A total of 56 FFA and 4-H members, and four Clover Bud (participants that are too young to be in 4-H) made up the 60 Ag Fair participants this year. There was a special barnyard parade just for the Clover Buds. Participants of all ages were ready to show off their pigs, cows, rabbits, lambs, goats and chickens. These kids have put in the work with purchasing the animals, the feed, and all that goes along with maintaining the show animals. Hours and hours of working to get these animals ring ready to strut their stuff.
Saturday was a big day starting at 9 a.m. with 11 craft vendors set up to sell items at the craft bazaar. A rock wall, courtesy of the WV Army National Guard Recruiting Office, was set up for all to enjoy, as well as a dunking booth. The evening ended with the buyer’s dinner at 5 p.m., a free meal to enjoy for all who wish to attend, and the livestock auction at 7 p.m.
“The importance of this fair is the work ethic that it instills into our youth, along with building a knowledge base of agriculture. These projects are considered ‘supervised agriculture experiences; where they learn about good husbandry practice, which is how we care for animals, along with housing, feed, water, handling, and moving medical needs. The youth learn calculations on feed to growth, compared to the optimum age to butcher the animals to maximize profit. This program has educational benefits, as well as keeping the children engaged, providing them something to do, and is also a way to make some money with the buyers primarily being businesses supporting local youth, purchasing animals at well above market price, with proceeds going to the exhibitor’s future investment,” stated Wesley Armes.
Former FFA President Elijah Armes had a big day, taking first place in his class with his hog, Randy, weighing in at 226lbs. Armes also received first place in FFA Showmanship and was one of two recipients of the Clay County Agriculture Fair Scholarships. Armes will use his scholarship dollars towards his education at Glenville Sate College where he will be majoring in Environmental Science.
Miss Breanna Hanshaw, former Ag Fair 2022 Queen, was also awarded the Clay County Agricultural Fair Scholarship. Breanna plans to attend Bridgevalley in the fall where she will be majoring in Nursing.
A special thanks to all who purchased these kid’s animals this weekend. Thank you to the parents, vendors, volunteers, who made the 2023 Ag Fair a huge success.