Fair week is upon us. I have had butterflies in my stomach for the last week wondering if I can pull it off. It hasn’t been an easy year. Extra work with our Expo, miserable weather which has resulted in a very late haying season. There haven’t been too many fairs that we didn’t have our haying completed but we are certainly not finished this year. I would not be able to take anything to the fair if my boyfriend/partner and brother were not willing to keep haying while I played with cows and made some exhibits. Unfortunately, the girls’ schedules are quite tight with working and hockey that they haven’t been able to get out as much either. Marlee is away for hockey this weekend, so she is missing the Fair. I am very proud of her for getting some entries ready for the exhibition hall though. I am hoping that tradition will continue. It has been going on for generations here through the Smith side of the family. I have been entering since I was five and only missed on our covid years. I have been dragging cattle out to Emo since I was 12. I have been questioning if I should continue but I feel like I would be sad for the whole year if I didn’t do it. Training cattle is a lot of work and patience. Everyone comments that my cows are quiet but quiet and putting a rope on and walking them are two different things. After working a long day, it isn’t always that fun to go and drag a cow around. The other challenge is keeping them clean. This year we obviously have a lot of mud around and mine must walk through a deep spot just to get to the barn. I might have to fence them out of that this week just to keep their legs clean. I am not sure how many exhibit hall entries I will be able to pull off. They have changed some rules on when you can enter and they aren’t super easy for me to meet. I have an Emo Fair Week Plan – and I am not sure I can fit it all in. I also have a few meetings scheduled this week that are not in my Emo Fair Week Plan either and the challenge will be remembering them when I am busy. Monday I am doing a presentation on the Importance of Agriculture in the North. I am sure they are expecting a slide deck, but I think they are going to get me talking instead. In my defence I told them it was going to be tough for me to pull that off. I looked over my computer to see if there was another presentation I could quickly modify but nothing seemed to fit!
Thank You to KB Ranch for hosting a wonderful Market Day last week. The weather wasn’t the best, but it could have been worse, and it was great to see the vendors, the families and all the fun little things Kerry & Brody had set up for the day. Hosting events like this requires a lot of work and set up. It is great they are willing to give up their time, space and share their animals with us! Thank you for Lizzie and Speckles (the girls’ heifers) for playing Cow Bingo with us! This fun little event raised $3000 for the abattoir! Thank you for organizing and playing along! Look for the Abattoir booth this weekend at the Emo Fair – and I hope you are all planning to attend the Gala they are planning! Watch for the details.
Just a reminder – if you are thinking about stocking up your freezer this fall. You cannot go wrong with purchasing a 4-H Steer. You won’t find better beef. It one whole steer is too much you can find a friend or two and share! That is not a problem.! If you have questions about that give me a call or see me at the Fair. The Auctions is Saturday night at 4 p.m.
See you at the Fair!
