Cotton candy, car races, and concerts...they all point to one thing: "fair" time in the North State. In tonight's Kids In Action, reporter Rick Carhart takes us out to the Glenn County Fair in Orland, where hundreds of kids did more than just ride the rides, they worked hard and made some money, too.
nats judge
Kids from 9-years-old to High School seniors came from miles around to show off their animals in front of the judges at the Glenn County Fairgrounds.
Elk Creek FFA member R.J. Cano says, "in showmanship you're trying to show the judge how much work you've done with your pig...so what you're trying to do is keep it in front of the judge, look at the judge, show him that your pig can cooperate with you and basically that the pig knows who's boss."
The kids who show these animals learn a lot more than just how to make them look good.
Livestock Superintendent Wes Patton says, "the young people that belong to 4-H and FFA in the county are among our people that are going to be our leading citizens growing up."
Corning 4-H member Kate Picha says, "I think it prepares me for the future because I want to do something ag related when I grow up."
Kate has raised pigs for four years at her home in Corning. Because she isn't from Glenn County, she can't take a market hog, but she brought plenty of her project animals...and left with a pocket full of awards.
Kate says, "I wanted to come to the Glenn County Fair to promote my breeding swine project for 4-H and just to have fun."
Each of the students in the market swine project get to sell their animal at the auction on Saturday. This is Sydney Paillon's first year taking an animal to the fair, and she knows that the auction is the easy part, saying, "you just have to stand by your pig and wait for people to bid on your pig."
But it's the experience these kids get along the way that is the real reward.
Wes says, "they learn a tremendous amount about responsibility with these livestock projects. They follow through on things they're asked to do, they're our ambassadors to the rest of the world as far as ag is concerned."
And most of them will be back next year to do it all over again.
