FFA Kids Ready for Walla Walla Fair

WALLA WALLA-"We are decorating Sunday," said the post on the Waitsburg FFA's Facebook page. "Please meet [at] 10 a.m. Bring extra supplies such as zip ties, wire, or side cutters if you have them."

The accompanying picture showed pink letters on a black background: "I CAN'T KEEP CALM IT'S FAIR WEEK."

The reference was to the upcoming 152nd Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days. On paper, the event lasts a bit less than a week, kicking off this Wednesday and ending on Sunday. But as far as Waitsburg's FFA and 4-H members are concerned, the seven days between decorating their pens and giving them a final clean-out pass-by in an indivisible hay-scented clump.

"Fair week is a very busy time," explained Nicole Abel, the FFA group's advisor.

It would certainly seem so.

When a Times reporter got in touch with Tracy Barron, who leads the Corral Wranglers 4-H club in Waitsburg, to see if she had a minute to chat, she replied with the following: "We are very busy with it being fair week. How long do you need?"

Lisa Morrow, who heads up the Pen Pals, another 4-H group in town, put it more succinctly: "Any time after Fair...LOL".

If the fair is stressful for the parents, it can be downright grueling for the young exhibitors themselves.

"Members arrive at the [fairgrounds] as early as 5 a.m. to begin prepping their animals for the day. This includes feeding, cleaning stalls, fitting (washing and clipping hair), and general time calming the animal," Abel explained.

"If the members are not in an event, they are taking care of their animals," she added. "Almost all kids are also attending sports practices in the evenings, then travel back to the fairgrounds to feed their animals one more time before going to bed."

"The animal's care often comes before their own," Tracy Barron added.

But, as Barron was quick to emphasize, "the time commitment to showing an animal is huge and starts months before the fair, when an animal is actually purchased." She noted that the fair itself "is really a small part" of all the effort and energy the kids devote to their show animals.

Most of the FFA projects – in addition to many of the 4-H exhibits – are swine. But steers, goats and sheep are also part of the mix. Typically, different types of animal are housed in different barns, and "each barn is on its own schedule," said Abel. Regardless, her group tries to get together "at all the extra events and between shows."

Barron, meanwhile, sees the splitting-up of the group as something of an opportunity. "The kids are making lifelong friends from other towns that they may not have had the chance to meet otherwise," she said.

After the much-dreaded qualifying weigh-in on Wednesday, the atmosphere relaxes somewhat. There's a livestock-judging competition; "confirmation classes," in which the animals are evaluated and the sale order is set; and the fitting-and-showing contest. All are opportunities to acquire premium points and impressive satin ribbons.

On Saturday, which Abel describes as "a rest day of sorts," the FFA takes part in a tractor race before Sunday's final livestock sale.

"This is a very competitive group," Abel said of her FFA team. "The animals are in good shape. Once they all weigh in, it is easy sailing from there. We have two first-year showmen – they are always my favorite to watch, as well as the junior 4-Hers. They are so excited to show, and try so hard!"

"The kids are very excited for the fair," Barron confirmed. "The atmosphere...is busy and a little chaotic, but the memories made make the craziness worth it.

"It is time to see if their hard work and dedication will pay off," she added.