For 12 years in my youth, the early part of August always meant a trip to the Wisconsin State Fair for the largest junior dairy cattle show in the nation! Over the years, I exhibited several calves and heifers of various breeds that helped me meet wonderful people among the show rings. These “dance partners” of mine gave me lasting memories and helped me achieve my early dreams for my 4-H dairy cattle project. There were moments both in clean white show pants and dusty blue jeans that truly shaped who I am as a person and what it meant to be involved in agriculture.
One of my most heartwarming memories in the Wisconsin State Fair show ring happened in 2018, after what had been an already remarkable summer as a 4-H youth exhibitor. I brought my first bred-and-owned heifer, a Brown Swiss summer yearling named Sassafrass, to the State Fair in hopes of landing in the top five for both placing classes and showmanship. At the end of the fair, I had taken home first place in the Brown Swiss summer yearling class and Champion Bred-and-Owned Brown Swiss Heifer with Sassafrass. More than that, I had won the 15-year-old division for showmanship and earned the title of Third Overall Dairy Showperson. The best came when I stood in Champion Showman Drive and had the honor of watching my sister be named Supreme Champion Showperson right by my side. It’s a moment like this that every exhibitor lives for.
Memories such as these do not vanish quickly for youth who know the hard work and dedication that go into bringing animals to the State Fair. Behind these show-day triumphs are hours spent at the wash rack, diets that are fine-tuned every day, grooming hair to achieve that silky look, and perhaps miles upon miles of practice walks at the halter. These triumphs are brought together by the life lessons learned in preparation for the show—the value of persistence, teamwork, resourcefulness, and sheer grit. Achievements like these are also a catalyst for other lessons—the importance of humility, celebrating one’s friends, and appreciation for the times that you dust yourself off when that class doesn’t go quite the way you’d hoped. These are just a few lessons that the Wisconsin State Fair allows youth to learn every single year.
Out of the show ring, I enjoyed many traditions with my friends from Columbia County and those across the barns at State Fair. The Skyglider was always a “must do” after the week concluded. I remember the excitement of bombarding the Skyglider attendants with an entire group of kids, or the giddiness at the chance to maybe ride with a “special someone” whom you had gotten to know through the week. That was always big news the next day! Looking over the fair from the Skyglider when we had finished all our shows was a wonderful feeling of happiness and contentment.
For the Columbia County crew, it was a tradition to get cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning before heading home from the fair. The cinnamon rolls right outside of the lower dairy barn are a fair favorite and surely made the best reward after a week of hard work. One of my best memories is gathering together in some chairs while we discussed the events of the week over our sticky sweet buns. It didn’t get much better.
There were many other traditions I can recount, such as watching the annual broomball match in the upper barns, partaking in water games on the wash rack to cool off, and staying up late on Saturday night to visit each county before the youth dairy show disbanded for another year. It’s memories and traditions like these that I feel very lucky to have collected during my time at the State Fair, and that I hope every youth participant gets the chance to experience throughout their journey.
Now as Alice, I am honored to return to the Wisconsin State Fair and look back on some of those memories that shaped who I am and what it means to be a State Fair exhibitor. The tight-knit community of agriculture grows the leaders of tomorrow from humble beginnings to great future achievements. No where is this firm, grounded, yet oftentimes spirited foundation more apparent than at the Wisconsin State Fair.
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