4-H Members and their Junior Livestock Entries – August 12, 2013

Posted by Donna Wood

on Aug 18, 2013

Rotary members were entertained and impressed by four 4-H members, first timers and old (young) timers who are showing livestock at the Plumas-Sierra County Fair this year.

First up was 12-year-old Parker Carey who is showing for the first time. He has raised a market hog, a Yorkshire Hampshire cross named Spice from 50 pounds to 240 pounds. “His hams are big and juicy, perfect for your sandwich," writes Parker in his letter to potential buyers at the auction on Sunday, August 18. Cody Morrison was next up. Last year he raised a Reserve Champion honor for his swine. This year he’s going for Grand Champion.

Madison is showing Rabbits which she had with her. They are 10-week-old Dutch Cross named Luna, Neville, Draco and another since forgotten. (Mea culpa) You might recognize the names from the Harry Potter books. While in the swine category, bigger is better, but rabbits must not be over 5 pounds or under 3.

Haley Kline also has a swine entry, a Yorkshire cross who likes to go for walks. From runt of the litter, Haley hopes her swine will rise to Grand Champion. But rather than talking about her entry, she turned the tables and asked questions of the Rotary members, who were mostly off the mark. Do you know how Wall Street got its name? Some say it was because of a wall built after DeWaal had purchased land that became New Amsterdam in order to defend the colony against both the British and the American Indians tribes that still dominated the area. Haley assured us the wall was built to keep out wild hogs. Of Rick Foster, noted retired local pharmacist was asked where cortisone comes from. He failed the test. Says Haley, it is from the adrenal gland of a pig. Where else? The third and final question was what are the two white breeds of swine? Chuck Leonhardt didn’t know, nor did anyone else. They are the Yorkshire and Chester White. With that, Haley left us with this quote from Harry Truman, “No man should be allowed to be president who doesn’t understand hogs…”

Thanks to Dwight for organizing this years float. The Quincy Rotary Club entry in the Plumas County Fair received a third place ribbon. The theme of our float was Racing to Defeat Polio. Rotarians Doug Ely, Austin Ely (Doug's grandson), John Sheehan, and Dwight Pierson constructed the float. President John Breaux, Rotarians Donna Wood, Walt Steuben, and Doug Ely represented our Rotary Club on the float. I hear there may be some fines for water balloons coming from an insurance company!!