Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 17, 2016 5A
Riding
high at
the fair
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
The 2016 Polk
County Fair had it
all: Livestock,
food, a rodeo,
entertainment
and more.
The three-day
extravaganza
offered family-
friendly times and
an experience all
could enjoy.
An eager volunteer feels a little hesitation as one of BMX Freestyle riders attempts — successfully — to jump him.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Youngsters prepare their market chickens to be judged just before Thursday afternoon’s market chicken show at the Polk County Fair.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Fruits were one of the many displays at the Polk County Fair.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dylan Dahl, 8, climbs through the tunnel at the firefighter obstacle course on Friday.
Cherie Smith and Emma Cornett take a ride on a camel during the Polk County Fair on
Friday at the Polk County Fairgrounds.
Fair: Raising turkeys helps to
teach business to children
Continued from Page 1A
Davis is also a newcom-
er — to judging turkeys. She
has decades of fair experi-
ence as a poultry superin-
tendent and a parent of
daughters who raised ani-
mals to show at fair.
She said in the market
turkey category, judges are
looking for what consumers
would want if they were
buying a turkey in the store.
“You are looking for a full
breast,” she said, noting
quite a few of the turkeys
she judged met that stan-
dard.
“There were a few that I
thought, ‘you would be great
for Christmas or Thanksgiv-
ing,’” she said.
As the class name implies,
that is the point to raising
the birds.
“This is business on a kid
level,” Davis said.
Taylor seemed to be doing
OK on the business side.
Larry and Steve, Taylor’s two
birds, earned blue ribbons at
the market show.
Thursday, though, Steve
was being quite the “turkey,”
making handling him tough
on Taylor.
Taylor believes Steve’s
fussiness may be in part that
he’s not used to being in
such small confines as at the
fair. The turkeys’ pens at
home were much more spa-
cious than the fair cage, and
they were allowed outside to
roam during the day.
“He doesn’t like being
cooped up,” Taylor said.
He said making sure they
looked their best and were
healthy took a lot of time,
but he doesn’t regret taking
on the project, even given
Steve’s antics.
“They’re fun,” he said.
“They are kind of like dogs.
They follow you around.”
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
The swine barn was full sleeping pigs — except this one.