A handful of local high school students will be traveling to the
State Fair this week to compete alongside hundreds of the best
agriculture students in California.
A handful of local high school students will be traveling to the State Fair this week to compete alongside hundreds of the best agriculture students in California.
“We usually have several students go each year,” San Benito High School FFA adviser Kelly Bianchi said. “It’s a lot of work, but for the students and their families who are willing to go the extra mile, it’s a great experience.”
Two SBHS students, Sam Doty and Johnny Gardner, will be showing hogs they have raised. The other, Alethia Prewett, will be competing in the Master Showmanship Round Robin, a display of her skill in showing different animal species, as opposed to the merits of a particular animal.
“I look forward to going to the state fair,” Doty said. “You never know if you’re going to get lucky and win something.”
In order to compete at the state fair, participants must qualify at the county level.
“It isn’t like just anyone can compete,” Prewett said. “So you know the competition is going to be pretty fierce. We all want to do our best.”
Doty and Gardner will have to prove to judges that their pigs are exceptionally healthy, well groomed and have been well taken care of.
“Really it all comes down to the luck of the draw sometimes,” Bianchi said. “You just have to hope the judge sees the best in your animal, and some judges are looking for different things than others.”
Two years ago when Doty first took a pig to the State Fair, he won a title and earned $6,000.
“It was my family’s lucky year,” he said. “I put the money into my savings account and used the rest to pay off my bills from raising my animals.”
Prewett, on the other hand, will be working with animals she’s never dealt with before.
“Showmanship is all about your ability to make an animal look its best, even if you’ve never seen it before,” she said. “It makes it more tough, but it makes it fair.”
Prewett said she prefers showmanship to other competitions because judges will be examining her performance, not her animal’s.
“If you want to show a pig, you don’t have much of a chance if you can’t afford to buy a really expensive one. Some animals are just better than others, and they cost more,” she said. “But showmanship has nothing to do with that.”
Prewett has been to the state fair for three or four years and has yet to win a showmanship ribbon, but is looking forward to this year’s event.
“I’m not really in it for the money or anything; I just want to do my best,” she said.
The trip to the state fair is worth it just to meet other students, trade advice and check out each other’s animals, Doty said.
“The competition can get pretty intense – people walk around with their poker face on, especially the parents,” he said. “But at the end of the day everyone’s friendly and we’re all here for the same reason.”
Gardner was unavailable for comment Monday.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
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