BELTON – In spite of competing with Super Bowl Sunday, the 23rd annual Bell County Youth Fair and Rodeo was gearing up for a banner year as young contestants spent the day filling up pens in the Bell County Expo Center arena Sunday.
County Extension agent Dirk Aaron, bundled up against the chill to direct an endless flow of trailers into the parking lot Sunday afternoon, said, "We've got over 3,000 head of livestock this year, the most we've ever had. McLennan County's fair is up this year, too, but most counties in the state are down."
Aaron attributed the trend to the number of Bell County school districts and the relative health of the local economy.
"Not to say we're not hurting here, but we're better off than most other places," he said.
Aaron said young 4-H and FFA members entered 3,200 items in food preparation and other crafts in the family and consumer sciences division. Sunday also saw competition in barrel racing and pole-bending in the main arena.
Activities in the exposition building today include the beef heifer show, weighing and classifying of hogs, grading commercial steers, judging of breeding sheep and market lambs and orientation of judges for competition later in the week.
Bela Hahn of the FFA in Belton, his mother, Karin Hahn, and his older sister, Alexandria Scott, were comforting his contestants – three breeding nanny goats, including a pregnant one and another with two kids. He also entered a heifer and two sheep.
"It keeps me out of trouble. And out of a social life," he said. "My sister started it all when she was in school. 'I want a buck rabbit, I want a billy goat.' They just bred and covered the place. My parents drew the line at buying a bull, though."
Bela said judging usually goes on all week, but it wraps up Thursday this year so that contestants can go to the San Antonio fair.
Salado ninth-grader Jacey Roberts' and fifth-grader Lindy Martin's goats were sharing a pen. Jacey, her mother, Lisa, and Lindy were sitting with them and trying to settle their nerves. This is the third year in the show for both of them.
"I have horses, too, but I don't enter them," Jacey said. "I won seventh place last year, but there's a lot of competition. There are 70 animals here from Salado alone."
She said that if she doesn't place this year, she wants to go on to the Austin youth fair in March.
More than 200 teachers, county agents and other adult volunteers assist with the fair.
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