Orcas & Shaw Kids Work with Their Animals to Get Ready for the County Fair

Sabrina Bailey & Cavy. Photo Courtesy of Paris Wilson.

By Brigid Ehrmantraut

Lazy days of summer? Not for the the small animal 4-H clubs of Orcas and Shaw Islands, who are getting their projects, from bunnies to baking, ready to show at the San Juan County Fair.

The Fair will run from August 17 to 20 this year and the Orcas Island Fur & Feathers 4-H Club  started preparing in full swing at its latest meeting on June 21. Actually, the members have been working on their animal and still life (anything that isn’t alive; i.e. baking, photography, sewing, crafts, etc.) projects since the end of August last year; however, at their last meeting, the kids’ main focus was on “fitting and showing” their pets and livestock.

Fitting and showing consists partially of handling and exhibiting an animal to a judge. This can entail flipping a chicken upside-down to reveal the keel or breast bone, illustrating the proper method of carrying and turning a rabbit, finding the gender of a guinea pig, and more.

But this is not all…. A 4-H showman must also answer the judge’s questions about 4-H information (example: What do the four H’s stand for? Head, heart, hands, and health), as well as specific project-related ones ranging from animal breeds to diseases/health problems to anatomy to commercial uses and back again.

At the June 21 meeting, members practiced answering these sorts of questions in teams before heading outside to work on correctly positioning and controlling their animals for almost an hour. This, the club’s penultimate meeting, was important because only a few more chances will occur for kids to practice working with their animals and ask questions of leaders and older members before they find themselves in the show ring. There is only one more club meeting next month and a club mini fair scheduled for the last weekend in July standing between 4-H members and the Fair.

The Fur & Feathers club contains at least one member in every small animal project (poultry, rabbit, cavy–better known as guinea pig, dog, cat, and pygmy goat), plus the occasional pocket pet person who brings creatures like rats, hamsters, snakes, ferrets, etc. to the Fair.

4-Hers on Shaw Island held a similar event on June 18. where members learned mostly about chickens. The Shaw leader, Jan Sanburg, also demonstrated fitting and showing a rabbit and gave a presentation about livestock feed.

The 4-H kids from Shaw and Orcas will display their projects — live and otherwise — at the County Fair  in Friday Harbor during the third week in August. This year’s Fair theme is “A Razzle Dazzle Wingding Starring YOU!”

Great chances to support San Juan County 4-H will be at the  4-H livestock auction at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 20, and at the still life silent auction earlier the same day.

The 4-H and regular fair schedules as well as further information concerning the fair is  available online at www.sanjuancountyfair.org.