Competition Heats Up At County Fair

Children Compete in Animal Contests on Ladies Night

By Katie DePaola

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Though Tuesday's theme was Ladies Night, with a half-price admission for ladies 6 to 106, the morning competition focused on the children of Loudoun -- and of course, their animals.



For members of the Loudoun 4-H Beef Club, a day at the fair is not just fun and games. Members have to wash, feed and brush their steers to prepare for the day.

Tyler Beamer, 14, of Purcellville, said he woke at 5:30 a.m. to get to the fair.

For kids like Tyler, the Pie Eating Contest was an opportunity to let loose and have some fun. At 10 a.m., Jessie Bramhall, 14, of Lovettsville, and Tyler went head-to-head in the competition. While Tyler used the technique of Japanese competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, Jessie developed her own approach.

“I just sort of stuck my face in and ate all the cream first and then went for the crust,” Jessie said.

Tyler, meanwhile, stuck with Takeru’s approach.

“He used to be the hot dog champion of the world, so I went with that,” Tyler said. “Eat as fast as you can.”

‘It’s So Fun’

Tyler’s young sister, Ashley Beamer, 11, said she was excited for the fair because she’d been working with her animals all year.

“We have to feed them every day and let them out every night. We have to halter break the steers and sheep, and the pigs you don’t really train,” Ashley said. “You also have to work with your steers and sheep.”

Ashley started working with her steer, Hokie, in September 2006, but it went nameless until a few weeks ago.

“When the incident happened at Virginia Tech, that’s when I named it,” she said.

After a year of dedication, the kids are ready to show off what they’ve accomplished. And, of course, a little monetary prize never hurt. “First place, I think, is $20,” Ashley said with a smile.

Throughout the year, 4-H members put in hours of hard work and training to prepare for the fair. Since the group spends time together each week, the weeklong fair is intense, but not unusual.

“We basically do prep-work (all year) for the fair,” Jessie said. “We get a lot of informational speakers to help us better our projects with our animals.”

Members of Loudoun’s 4-H Beef Club also do a lot of community service, said 14-year-old Adam Murray, of Leesburg.

“We picked up trash for Earth Day. This year, we sent down some school supplies for the Katrina victims, and we also sent care packages to the victims in Iraq,” Adam said.

For Jessie, taking care of her 5-month-old steer, Brooke, and her other animals is a daily responsibility. When she wakes up, she feeds the animals and makes sure they have enough fresh water and hay to last through the course of the day. At night, she repeats the process. Often, her duties include brushing and washing the animals.

“Basically, (I) just make sure they’re healthy,” Jessie said.

Jessie Bramhall’s brother, Jarrett, also was at the fair but hung out on the side playing cards with friends. For Jarrett, the excitement would not come until later.

“I just like showing the pigs,” he said. “It’s so fun.”

‘Doing The Best You Can, Hanging Out’

While the Bramhall siblings and other members of the 4-H Beef Club basked in a few minutes of rest, members of the 4-H Dairy Club gathered in the show barn to compete in the Dairy Show.

Amanda Ryerse, of Ashburn, will be 11 on Wednesday and was happy to have placed third in both the first and second classes.

“Last year was my first year,” she said. “Once (my cow) got in the ring, she was kind of jumpy,” Amanda said. “She wasn’t moving and when she did move, she would jump.”

Lauren White, 17, of Hamilton, won the first class. She said 7-month-old Roxita belongs to the Potts family. However, as far as training, Lauren has spent two months preparing for the show.

“It’s a non-ownership program, so I’ve been going over to their farm and they’ve been nice enough to let me work with her,” Lauren said. “We go over in the mornings and we work on training them to lead and to set up.”

For the Potts family, the county fair is much more than just a week of events.

“We have the last dairy farm in Loudoun County. We milk about 80 cows,” 17-year-old Chris Potts said. “We’ve always been really involved in 4-H. My parents were involved when they were kids, and I was involved as soon as I was old enough to join. It’s a family tradition.”

Hayley, 13, and Logan, 10, both showed cows, and Chris won Dairy Show Grand Champion.

He was excited about his victory, but not too surprised.

“I’ve been showing since I was 8,” Chris said. “I’ve won Showmanship a couple times, Grand Champion a couple times. I haven’t had Grand Champion for the past couple years, so this is exciting.”

For Chris, the competition does not end with the Loudoun County Fair. He has another show next Saturday in Harrisonburg.

“There’s not as much competition here as at the other shows I go to,” he said. “This is good practice for me.”

Retired Agriculture County Agent Bill Harrison, who grew up on a dairy farm in Fairfax, judged the Dairy Show.

“I thought the quality of the animals was very good,” Harrison said. “The young people did a great job of presenting them and you’ve got some animals here that will go on and do equally well in big shows.”

As far as the Grand Champion, Harrison said, “He’s an excellent heifer, I mean, that’s a top-notch heifer and can stand stiff competition.”

Amanda Messick, 17, was crowned Virginia Dairy Duchess in January 2007, and her sister, Stephanie, 19, serves as the alternate duchess. The Messick sisters live on a dairy farm in Fauquier County. On Tuesday, they passed out ribbons to the winners of the Dairy Show.

“We go around and promote the dairy industry, attending many events. (We) go to elementary schools and tell them how important (three dairy servings a day) is for them,” Stephanie said. “And we go to fairs … or museums or just like any kind of event that we can get out there and tell them that they really need to drink their milk.”

Another set of sisters, MegAnn and Cassella Slater, of Upperville, sat inside the Beef Barn chatting and reading the latest Harry Potter book, while their brother Bobby, 5, wandered around, taking in the chaos of the day.

They had escaped from the heat to rest up for their animals’ competition later in the week. For Cassella, the Friday night Livestock Auction is one of the most exciting events.

“Each individual who shows has to sell at least one animal,” Cassella said. “With beef, if you have two animals, one you have to sell and the other you have to get a private buyer.”

If you do well when you show, there are more bidders so they’ll pay more,” Cassella said.

Jessie said the animals are a big attraction, but he doesn’t attend the fair just for the animals.

“Its just fun being here, hanging out with your friends and your animals, getting to show them and just doing the best you can and just hanging out,” Jessie said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Evening events included Hansen’s Circus Thrill Show at 5:30 p.m., the opening of Carnival Midway at 6 p.m. and the Womanless Beauty Contest at 8 p.m.

Your Thoughts...

With the current state of the economy, how have your finances changed when compared to last year?