Ronnie Parrish, the Baytown Youth Fair president, recently spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Baytown about the upcoming fair, which is scheduled for April 1-5 at the Baytown Fairgrounds, 7900 N. Main St.

This will be the 64th year for the Baystown Youth Fair. 

Parrish said the Youth Fair exists for FFA and 4-H members in Goose Creek CISD to show their projects, including animal raising, photography or welding.  

“We have 64 years of the fair,” Parrish said. “We are 501c3, and we are all volunteers. At times, the fair can be a lot of hard work and long hours.”

Parrish equated the passion of the BYF folks for helping kids to that of the Kiwanis.  

“That is why the (fair) was started 64 years ago,” he said. 

The purpose of the fair is to give students in the area a place to show off their projects. Parrish said the BYF is not affiliated with Goose Creek CISD, but they have similar guidelines and programs as far as grades. 

“Education is first,” Parrish said. 

The fair is not just one week of activities but has events throughout the year, according to Parrish. 

“It is a family event, not just with kids,” he said. “It ends up being moms, dads, brothers and sisters. Everyone gets involved in this.”

There are several categories associated with the fair, and not just steers, chickens, rabbits, goats, lambs, swine or turkeys. There are also indoor exhibits and projects, such as baking, photography, crafts and welding.

“They are a big part of the fair and getting bigger every year,” Parrish said.  

Not only do students showcase their animals, but they also have to know showmanship.

“That is where the kids are judged on how well they know their animals and how much time they have spent on them,” Parrish said. “They are quizzed on their animals — how they raised them, what feeding them, how much they weigh.”

The fair has a species show every night, Monday through Friday. It is open to the public. 

“Everyone is welcome to come out to any of the shows we have,” Parrish said. “The grand finale is Friday night, the live auction. This is what the kids really look forward to. This is where all of their hard work pays off. We would really love for you to come out and get all of the support we can get.”

Parrish said the students put endless hours into their projects. 

“It makes a difference for them,” he said. “They become more responsible and also learn about finances, too.”

During the live auction, the students’ animals can sometimes be sold for thousands of dollars.  For instance, at last year’s fair, Hannah Grifface, a Goose Creek Memorial High School student, netted $20,500 for her Grand Champion steer, Rooster. Usually, students use money for the following year’s project or college expenses. 

Patti Smith, a fair board member, said she heads the scholarship committee. She said she became involved in the fair through her daughters.

“I was never in this in high school,” Patti Smith said. “My kids showed interest, so I showed interest.”

Smith said it has become a family affair for her since her daughters also became recipients of the scholarships. 

“I like it so much that I worked with board members to get a scholarship committee started so we could be more efficient and get out more scholarships,” she said. “My goal is for every kid that qualifies, I want to be able to give them some money.”

Smith said the fair has a program where the students earn their way. In addition to showcasing projects, the students also earn volunteer hours through the fair. 

“One of the big requirements is that they have 40 hours of community service through the fair by the time they graduate,” she said. “In a couple of years, they have worked their 40 hours and we sign off on it. I do not just mean showing up. They are doing walls, pulling out toilets, painting walls, cleaning kitchens and cleaning restrooms.

“These kids are learning a lot of stuff that they do not have the opportunity to learn because they do not have anyone there to teach them. It is something they can carry with them for the rest of their life. So, if we can help them do that and give them more money, it is a win-win.”

Smith said she hopes to give out more scholarships this year than ever before. 

“That is our goal,” she said. 

The scholarships are typically about $1,000 each. Smith said her goal this year is to give out at least 20 scholarships.

Some of the scholarship funds come through auctions or through other methods, such as bake sales and bingo events. One such event is the Baytown Youth Fair Bingo scheduled for Feb. 3 at the fairgrounds. Doors open at 5 p.m., with dinner at 5:15 p.m. Bingo begins at 6 p.m. Participants have a choice of a designer purse or a case knife. 

There is also the Baytown Youth Fair BBQ Cook-Off on March 22-24. It is being held at the fairgrounds at 7900 N. Main St. For more on the cook-off, contact Committee Chairman Wade Smith at 832-926-3568 or emailing cookoff@baytownyouthfair.com.

For the latest information about the fair, visit https://baytownyouthfair.com. 

Members of Baytown’s Office of Emergency Management say now is the time to prepare for a hurricane and gave tips on how to beat the heat at the recent Kiwanis Club of Baytown meeting. 

David Alamia, Baytown’s Emergency Management coordinator, and Thomas Quinn, Deputy coordinator for the EOC, spoke about what their office does in weather emergency situations and provided helpful tips. 

“Our main objective is to provide emergency preparedness information,” Alamia said. 

Alamia said on hurricane preparedness, most people only look at the hurricane categories. 

“The problem with that is if you know what category it is, the only thing it’s really telling you is wind speed,” Alamia said. “When we look at a hurricane, there’s a multitude of different hazards that we have to take into consideration, especially when we’re talking about evacuating a population of about 80,000 to 90,000 people here in Baytown. We have to look at all the hazards, not just wind speed.”

Alamia said the EOC considers other factors, such as the threat from storm surges, rip currents, tornadic activity and inland flooding. 

“With Hurricane Harvey, we have over 60 inches of rain continuously (pouring) over our area,” Alamia said. “And that’s just one hazard in a hurricane. Most people aren’t paying attention to this if they’re only looking at the category sides. So, we take all of this into consideration and we let the public know about these different hazards.”

Alamia said a storm does not necessarily have to be a Category One to be considered dangerous. 

“We’ve had several tropical storms that have come through that caused torrential rainfall and caused other issues within Baytown,” Alamia said. 

Alamia said one of the things that helps determine if an evacuation is necessary is if a hurricane is expected to bring a storm surge of more than 9 feet. He also emphasized that the evacuation routes have changed. 

“Traditionally, our evacuation routes were Spur 330 and, of course, Interstate 10,” he said. “And then we used to have it on Highway 146. Now, the official evacuation route is Highway 99. So, we are diverting any traffic that comes from the Galveston area off to 99 instead of 146. All of our Baytonians or residents that live here in Baytown can still use 146 to evacuate the area, but because of congestion issues along 146, we’re pushing everyone that’s coming on 146 from Galveston onto 99. That way, there is more capacity. So, that’s one big major change.”

Kiwanian Mike Wilson asked where people would go if they used Highway 99. 

“We had a long discussion about this with our transportation partners,” Alamia said. “If you go to 99, eventually, you can go all the way around.”

Alamia also said the community should know about the Texas Emergency Assistance Registry, found at https://tdem.texas.gov/stear. 

“It’s what we use to help our vulnerable populations within our community,” Alamia said. “So, if you know someone that doesn’t have transportation or needs any kind of emergency assistance, whether they have a disability, or even if they have limited English proficiency, we want them to register into the system. It’s what we use in our office to help us plan for those vulnerable populations so we know where everyone is. In the event of an evacuation, we can call these individuals and request them to see if they need any transportation assistance.”

Alamia also talked about chemical emergencies, something to keep in mind since many industries are located in the Baytown area. 

“The most common thing is household chemical emergencies, transportation accidents, train derailment, or industrial accidents,” Alamia said. “And, of course, there’s the low risk of chemical warfare terrorism. We live close to a very large metropolitan area, and we live along the Port of Houston. So, critical infrastructure is a risk that we face within our community.” 

Alamia said utilizing an evacuation was one protective measure for chemical emergencies, but depending on the hazard, shelter-in-place might be a more viable option. He added that this depends on the incident’s length and how long it is anticipated to last. The kit should have medications, life-support devices, water, sanitary supplies and important documents. For a complete list, visit www.readyrating.org/Resource-Center/All-Resources/shelter-in-place-supplies-checklist.

Alamia said 22 emergency sirens in the area are tested every Wednesday at 9 a.m. 

Dave Jirrels, Kiwanian assistant treasurer, said with the 100-plus temperatures permeating the area recently, it would be tough for someone to shelter in place with no air conditioning. 

“Most people could shelter-in-place for about 10 minutes, and then turn that A/C back on and suck in the bad chemicals,” Jirrels said. 

Quinn said it would be hard to do, but provided some tips for this situation, such as purchasing battery-powered fans and getting some water spray. 

“Depending on the situation and the shelter-in-place zone the area is in, it is usually mitigated pretty fast, but yes, it’s going to be uncomfortable for about 15 to 30 minutes for sure,” Quinn said. 

Quinn added that in the wake of a Baytown elderly couple that died recently due to the excessive heat when their air conditioning unit went out, 

“We push out information as much as we can on social media or on the website (on the heat),” Quinn said. “We have plans in place, so if there’s a heat warning for more than three days that we would open up a cooling center.”

Quinn encouraged people to check regularly on their neighbors and be aware of heat exhaustion or heat stroke symptoms. 

“I see these workers out here working on the streets and I’m always worried because someone feels dizzy,” Quinn said. “That’s the sign. Or nauseous. That’s a sign that you need to get into air conditioning. So, once you start getting a headache, and you stop sweating, that’s kind of a little too late and you need to go into the emergency room.”

Quinn said to visit their website at www.baytown.org/197/Emergency-Management for more on what to look for in a heat advisory.  

“And, of course, you can’t forget that almost everybody has pets,” Quinn said. 

Quinn said they have foldable kennels, canned dog food, water, sleeping mats, towels and encouraged people to bring their pet’s toys and vaccination records.