Grand time for San Jon teen

Sixteen-year-old Addie Lafferty of San Jon admits she's had other good years at the Quay County Fair. But it would be difficult to top this one.

Lafferty, a senior at San Jon High School this fall, showed both the grand champion and reserve champion steers and earned the Senior Showmanship prize in the beef category. She also showed the grand champion hog at the fair.

Lafferty said she put a lot of effort in particular during the showmanship competition.

"I'm really intense," she said. "When it comes to showing, I show hard. I work those animals hard at home, make sure their hair is real good so that when they get in the ring, they just look their best."

Lafferty also came away with the most money during the fair-closing Junior Livestock Auction on Saturday night. Her reserve-champ steer commanded the top bid of $8,000 that night.

Lafferty has one more year before she ages out of the 4-H program.

The top swine at the auction was Gavin Wallace's, which landed a bid of $4,200. The top lamb was Guinevere Kandel's, which fetched $4,700. The top goat was shown by Kylee Black, which landed a bid of $4,500.

In all, the auction fetched more than $117,000. Citizens Bank was the top bidder on five animals, totaling $15,600.

Chickens and rabbits also were bid at the auction, though the animals weren't there because the fair for those animals was held on Aug. 1. The fair board moved up that portion of judging for precautionary reasons due to an avian flu outbreak in the region.

Before the auction, the fair honored four 4-H members who are aging out of the program - Greyson Bollinger, MiKayla Klinger, Payson Nials and Ashton Smith.

The family of the late Kathleen Box presented the inaugural Kathleen Box Memorial Award to the high-points exhibiter at the fair, Kipton Griffiths. Box, a longtime supporter of the fair, died in May at age 70.

The fair also honored those who were stepping down from the fair board: Marsha Byrd, who was retiring after 24 years; Justin Knight, after 12 years; and Heidi Adams, after six years.

Dallas Dowell, president of the fair board, said the fair was "very competitive," especially in the exposition center, where home arts, cooking, arts and crafts were judged.

"And we had a very good sale tonight ... very, very high-selling sale," he added. "The biggest part of this deal is the exhibitors and the quality of young people that we have out here."

Though the fair saw healthy numbers for the rabbit and poultry judging, a total of just six entries were in the beef cattle division.

Dowell attributed the low beef numbers to the high cost of production. He said it's simply gotten more expensive to feed and develop a calf.

The fair has been dealing with declining participation numbers in recent years. Not long ago, the Junior Livestock Auction concluded in darkness after 9 p.m., with more than 50 animals on the block.

This year, the auction of 31 animals took less than 90 minutes amid plenty of daylight remaining. Last year's auction totaled 39 animals.

Dowell said the board will continue to try to raise its participation numbers at future fairs.

"Just keep trying to advertise, trying to get people interested and doing some hard work," he said.