A6 The SpokeSman • TueSday, auguST 9, 2022
Livestock
Continued from A1
to walk early on until Perkins
spent three days straight with
her. It was a breakthrough mo-
ment for her and one of her fa-
vorite memories when the gilt
began to walk.
“It’s definitely a work in
progress,” she said, adding that
she’ll continue to participate
until she ages out of the pro-
gram at 21 years old.
Nolan Ewert and his sister
Jade, both members of 4-H,
mentioned just how much
preparation goes into raising
their livestock and preparing
them for the show and auc-
tion — walking them, feeding
them, making sure they get
enough water when it’s hot out.
They’ll often sleep in the pen
with their goats Rocky and Bo-
ris to make them more com-
fortable with their touch and
other people.
“We’ve spent a lot of time
with these guys this year,” No-
lan said.
COMPETITION
There’s an undeniable ten-
sion and excitement for 4-H and
FFA members as they compete
against each other to raise the
best and most desirable live-
stock they can.
At FFA and 4-H shows
throughout the fair, the tension
was palpable. Many attendees
talked in whispers as showmen
members wrangled various an-
imals including pigs, goats and
lambs. With quiet crowds, the
bleating and squealing of live-
stock rose to the front, focusing
everyone’s attention on the her-
culean effort of bending live-
stock to their showman’s will.
Judges circle like sharks,
watching how livestock look
and move and act. Sometimes
the smallest details can make or
break a championship animal.
According to Jade Ewert, one
of the main issues she had with
her goat Boris was that its legs
were a little too close together.
The judge gave her good advice
that if she rubs her goat’s legs
when they’re small, then they’ll
get used to it. They also got new
halters to help them walk better.
“I think we have an idea of
what to do better next year,” she
said.
FINALE
It all comes down to the fi-
nale — the youth livestock
auction.
Both exciting and heart-
breaking, the Deschutes
County Fair’s youth livestock
nick Rosenberger
Competitors line up their goats for judging at the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo in Redmond on August 5.
nick Rosenberger
A Redmond FFA member looks out over a livestock competition at the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo in
Redmond on August 5.
auction is where the culmina-
tion of everyone’s tireless effort
ends.
“We spent a lot of time with
these guys,” said Nolan Ewert.
“So it can be sad at times.”
“But, it’s good to know that
our hard work is finally paying
off,” added his sister Jade.
When everything comes
together at the end of the pro-
cess, Jade said, the end result is
the most rewarding part.
This process and the show-
men’s determination to detail
year after year can pay off. Ben
Teixeira, owner of the grand
champion cattle at this year’s
fair, sold his 1,413-pound cow
at Saturday’s auction for $20
per pound to Crews Ranch and
ACC Cost Consultants, LLC.
Jenna Gallacher, the reserve
grand champion, sold her
1,400-pound cow for $17 per
pound to Coyote Rock Ranch.
BIG PICTURE
Shows and auctions can be
nerve-wracking for kids and
parents who’ve spent months
raising their livestock. But
John Ramsey, an agriculture
teacher for Culver High and
Middle School and lifelong
member of FFA, said it’s
more than just about agri-
culture and farming. It also
gives participants valuable
skills for any career, like con-
fidence and public speaking.
“FFA is not just about
plows and cows anymore,”
he said.
With every failure posted
on Facebook nowadays, he
said, the small wins the kids
have in 4-H and FFA can
give them the self-confi-
dence to be able to walk up
to a stranger and introduce
themselves and talk about
what they are passionate
about.
Lance Hill, a Redmond
High School agriculture
teacher and FFA member,
agreed. With agriculture
combining so many differ-
ent aspects of biology, his-
tory and math, they get to go
beyond the classroom and
teach kids real-world skills
“without all the rigmarole.”
“We get to take what the
math teachers teach them
and show them how to apply
it,” he said.
Hill said FFA teachers are
able to connect with kids
who might be struggling in
school. Hill was one of those
kids himself, graduating
high school with a 2.2 GPA.
But after he found his love of
agriculture and teaching, he
earned a master’s degree and
found a fulfilling career.
“I was a junior in high
school when I decided I
wanted to be an ag teacher,”
he said. “I really loved what
my ag teacher did — I got to
see him change lives. Hell, he
changed my life.”
Hill said he was blessed
to do what he does, and that
there’s not a day that goes by
when he doesn’t wake up ex-
cited about getting to work
with kids and helping them
shine.
“There’s no words that
could describe it,” Ramsey
said.
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com
Deschutes County Fair &
Rodeo wraps up in Redmond
BY LEO BAUDHUIN
Redmond Spokesman
The sun beat down, live mu-
sic filled the air and the fer-
ris wheel took people up and
down.
This year’s Deschutes
County Fair & Rodeo saw
swarms of the Central Ore-
gon community make their
way out to Redmond’s fair-
grounds, for the first fair free
of COVID-19 restrictions
since the start of the pan-
demic.
”The fair was a great suc-
cess this year,” said Kathleen
Curtis, who is in charge of
the fair volunteer board and
volunteers who work the fair.
Fairgoers browsed the vari-
ous craft and political booths,
played games, shrieked their
way through carnival rides
and loaded up on curly fries
and slushies.
From time to time, they’d
stop by an event — a wa-
ter show, maybe, or a K-9
demonstration. The evening
rodeo and concerts were well
attended, according to orga-
nizers
For others, the fair was an
opportunity to show off the
work they created in 2022.
4-H kids entered competi-
tions with the goats, lambs
and cattle they raised, rodeo
queen Jessica Sperber opened
each day’s rodeo and artists
like Speakthunder Berry took
advantage of the fair’s plat-
form to share their culture
and sell their work.
█
Reporter: lbaudhuin@
redmondspokesman.com
nick Rosenberger/Spokesman
A contractor cuts material at Obsidian Middle School in Redmond on
August 4 as construction on the school’s bond project wraps up.
Bond projects
Continued from A1
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Fairgoers wait in line for a ride while attending opening day of the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo on
Wednesday.
Obsidian, which opened in
1980, is getting the most renova-
tions simply because it is older
than the others, most of which
were built 12-15 years ago. De-
spite this, all schools in the dis-
trict will see improvements to
safety and security systems.
At Obsidian, crews will be
adding 20 additional parking
spaces and improve ADA-acces-
sibility, including ADA acces-
sible bathroom stalls and ADA
pads for the football field. Crews
will also add new fire and secu-
rity systems, a new intercom,
cameras and an access control
system. They will also be reno-
vating a computer/maker space.
Big changes will also hit the
administration of Obsidian. In-
stead of sitting in the center of
the building, offices will move
to the northern side to create a
more secure entryway for par-
ents to drop off their children.
It will also create a required
check-in desk for all visitors.
In the past, parents used
the southern parking lot to
drop off their children. This
will now take place in the
north-side parking lot while
the south side will be used for
buses and staff.
The south-side parking lot
will get its own renovations with
additional ADA improvements,
fixes for the breezeway and an
added gate and fence.
Tom McCall/Elton Gregory
will also get a renovation on its
entryways, with an emphasis
on safety and security as well as
new access control and inter-
com systems.
Outside of the three major
projects, a variety of upgrades
and improvements will be hit-
ting schools across the district
from repairing sidewalks at
Hugh Hartman Elementary
and fixing asbestos piping and
tiles at Redmond High School
and John Tuck Elementary to
replacing the roof of Tumalo
Community School.
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com