Blues skies, farm animals, a high concentration of 4-Hers in one place, pork burgers and face-melting heat — yep… it’s county fair time in Manhattan.
The Riley County Fair kicked off Thursday night with the 40th Annual Kaw Valley Rodeo and county extension agent Jennifer Wilson — who was easy to find in her air-conditioned Pottorf Hall offices Friday afternoon — said things were going smoothly at the Riley County Fairground.
“So far so good,” she said. “We’ve got great participation from our 4-Hers and didn’t have any problem getting in our livestock today.
“Probably our biggest issue is the heat, but you know, it’s July. It’s hot, so just prepare for that when you come out to the fair. Bring an extra bottle of water. But I think we’re going to have a good time, regardless. We just encourage people to come out and see what the fair’s all about.”
Wilson also said hot weather means 4-Hers have to take extra care of livestock.
“The 4-Hers have to be vigilant checking on those animals, making sure they have plenty of water, hosing them off, taking them to the wash rack, ” she said. “For our rabbits they will freeze bottles of waters and put ice in beside those rabbits to keep them cooled down.
“Many of these animals are in better conditions here than they may have been in a lot at home, so we usually have pretty good luck with animals doing well in the heat.”
Audio interview with Riley County Extension Agent Jennifer Wilson:
This year’s fair has a missing member of the usual guest list.
Chickens were barred from this year’s fair as a precaution from the department of agriculture.
“This is the first time in that I can recall in 20 years that we haven’t been able to do something like that,” she said. “And that’s by orders of the Kansas Department of Agriculture to stop the spread of avian influenza.”
Inside Portoff Hall rocket models constructed and flown by 4-Hers were being judged but state-renowned model rocket guru Tony Foster.
Foster, who lives in Salina, is a member of many scientific organisations, including the Kansas 4-H SpaceTech Action Team. He said recent achievements by NASA — such as the Mars rover landing and last week’s Pluto fly-by — have not been unnoticed by 4-Hers.
“It’s growing,” he said. “We have rockets, we have astronomy. There’s a lot of interest with Pluto this year. From years past judging rockets here in Riley County, it’s actually grown. I think we’re up about five (submitted) rockets from what we had last year, so a lot of interest in the space and technology portions of 4-H.
“Definitely more than just cows and cookies.”
The fair concludes Monday evening with the 4-H Livestock Sale.
More shots of the fair:
(Click on photo to open bigger version.)
