It’s fair time again and some very hard-working, ambitious and dedicated young adults will be showing the public the accumulation of their work at the County fair this weekend at the Rural Events Center in Abiquiú.
Every year SUN reporters go out and interview prospective 4-H participants and ask the tough question: what makes you get up at 5 a.m. every morning to water, feed and walk your animal? The answers always vary.
He’s like a pet and I like him.
I want to win.
That’s what it takes.
I get up at 5 a.m. anyway.
What a stupid question.
My parents make me do it.
This year Alicia Maez, La Mesilla, had an interesting answer. It gets her out of doing dishes. I’d opt for dishes over breaking ice on a water trough at 5 a.m. any day. But to each her own.
She’s one of many youth who have lived 4-H for many years. And that’s really the basis of the program. Calves, pigs and sheep aren’t raised by attending a weekly meeting. They need proper care around the clock, including water and walking at 5 a.m. Participants must purchase food, vet care, proper shelter and keep track of expenses, hoping to make a profit at the coveted auction.
The 4-H program in the County has a long and proud history. Most of the many club’s success’ can be traced back to Elberta Honstein, a longtime 4-H supporter and former longtime club leader. Her and her late husband, Roy, did much for 4-H and she still attends the Saturday night auction and pours a boatload of money into it.
While those raising animals usually hog the spot light, the baker, seamstress, lepidopterist and ornithologist does just as much work and dedicates a lot of his or her days to projects and bettering his craft(s). They will all be there too.
We are celebrating some of the best youth in the County. Please get to the rural events center at some point Thursday through Saturday night’s auction and see what your youth have toiled over these past 12 months.
After all the auctioning and praising and ribbon-boasting and picture-taking gets done, it’s on to Albuquerque. Winners go on to the state fair in September and represent us there.