6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 12, 2015
Polk County News
Bolt: Reserve champ
brings $9 per pound
Continued from 1A
Not all the goats in Jenna’s
herd are as big as Bolt. Jenna
said the smallest figured out
how to squeeze through the
fence, while Bolt used a tac-
tic similar to a battering
ram. He would give himself
a running start and smash
through.
There’s much more to
raising an auction-worthy
goat than building a better
pen and feeding them. Jenna
had to balance food con-
sumption with exercise to
make sure Bolt and his
counterparts developed
muscle and the ideal com-
position.
That meant walking — a
lot — in addition to feeding
them twice a day. If she
didn’t, the results wouldn’t
have been favorable come
fair time.
“Fat doesn’t weigh as
much as muscle … and he
would just be all fat,” Jenna
said. “We took them on real-
ly long walks.”
Bids are placed on market
goats by the pound, and
Jenna was hoping Bolt
would bring in $5 to $6 per
pound, which would be a
good return on her invest-
ment.
Once show time got clos-
er, Jenna simply shrugged
her shoulders when asked if
she was nervous.
MaKayli Laizure, who
raised grand champion goat
Elvis, offered Jenna last-
minute advice on showing
Bolt in the auction ring and
interacting with his buyer.
“Shake their hand and
smile big,” she said.
MaKayli has taken ani-
mals to auction for the last
several years.
“I don’t how to explain it,”
MaKayli said of her first time
in the auction. “It was nerve-
wracking and exciting at the
same time. It was nice to
have people bidding on my
animal and it was fun to
show him.”
Within minutes, Jenna
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Bob Young cuts a board to size for Falls City’s covered stadium on Friday.
Stadium: Falls City fans
to have covered seating
Continued from 1A
Young, who also serves
on the district’s school
board, said this is the first
time the field will have a
stadium.
“I think it’s going to be re-
ally nice for the fans, espe-
cially when we’re getting
into November when it’s
rainy and windy,” Young
said.
He said the frames for
the bleachers were donated
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Jenna Tompkins and Bolt await having their photo taken
after Thursday’s market goat show at the county fair.
would have the same experi-
ence, the final lesson in her
four-month project with
Bolt and company.
“I’ve learned how to feed
and exercise them,” she said.
“And definitely not to get too
attached.”
MaKayli, followed by
Jenna, were the first two to
show their animals in the
auction. Grand Champion
Elvis pulled in $12.50 per
pound. Jenna watched
MaKayli carefully while
waiting her turn.
As the auctioneer said her
name, Jenna urged Bolt for-
ward into the ring. Guiding
him through a handful of
turns in front of the audi-
ence as the bids quickly rose
beyond her goal of $6 per
pound.
The eventual buyer pur-
chased Bolt for $9 per
pound, meaning he fetched
$1,224.
“ Yo u d i d a w e s o m e ,
Jenna,” Kathy Tompkins
said. “I’m so proud of you.
You were so good with Bolt.”
Jenna wasn’t the only one
who was won over by Bolt’s
sweet personality. Kathy, too,
was having mixed feelings
about the possibility of their
buddy leaving the farm. De-
pending on the wishes of the
buyer, sometimes families
can “buy back” the animal.
Kathy said Saturday that
whether or not they would
try to do that was yet to be
determined.
If not, there’s always next
year. MaKayli said she’s
learned to not think about
that much.
“I do one every year,” she
said.
So will Jenna.
“She knows we are going
to have a lot of kids (baby
goats) this winter, so she will
make another friend,” Kathy
said. “But that doesn’t make
it any easier.”
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Bob Young watches as a board is set in place Friday.
Come to Me all of you
who are weary and carry heavy burdens
and I will give you rest
— Matthew 11:28
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when Central High School
remodeled its stadium, and
Weyerhaeuser donated the
lumber for the benches.
The final step — building
the cover — has been tak-
ing shape slowly over the
summer.
Friday, the crew was fin-
ishing the roof and sides of
the structure.
The final touch will be
white metal siding with
purple trim to coincide
with school colors and
match other buildings sur-
rounding the field.
“We’ve been working on
it on and off for two or three
days,” Young said. “We
probably have another day
to go on it. We took the day
off today and donated the
time.”
Gilbert acknowledged
Mike McConnell, Mike
Mayfield, Sid Hobgood, and
the Falls City School Board
for supporting the project.
Gilbert also put in plenty
of time on the stadium,
Falls City Superintendent
Jack Thompson noted.
Thompson said with only
the siding left to installed, it
looks like the project will be
done before summer is
over.
“That is their intent, to
have it ready for the first
(football) game,” he said.