By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — This week, the fairgrounds at Carthage Municipal Park will be filled with kids, cattle and other farm animals, plus exhibits in studies ranging from aerospace to welding.

The 51st Annual Jasper County Youth Fair gets in full swing today with a work day at the fairgrounds.

Activities started Saturday with exhibit judging and a dog and cat show.

More than 300 young people from throughout the county are expected to participate in this year’s fair, showing animals they have raised, crops they have raised or projects they have completed. The fair is open to members of any youth organization in the county, but normally attracts members of local FFA programs and 4-H Clubs.

The fair has grown and evolved over the years and has expanded from a traditionally agricultural thrust, said Bob McNary, 4-H Youth Development Specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Service.

“FFA and 4-H both have an agricultural emphasis, but they make a lot more programs available,” he said. “We’re involving more and more students from urban areas, and we’ll have projects exhibited in things like aerospace, child development, computer science, electricity, entomology, veterinary science and photography.”

Youths also will be competing in events including agricultural science and agricultural mechanics, and showing cattle, goats, sheep, swine, poultry, rabbits and guinea pigs. For some competitors, the events will be a preliminary to the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield and the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.

In addition to the competition, there is a pet show, baby contest, watermelon feed and milking contest among local celebrities.

This year’s fair started with some physical rebuilding after one of the barns was damaged in an ice storm earlier this year. One building was expanded and fencing added, and additional renovations are planned, McNary said.

Youth fair calendar

Today

9 a.m. — Workday for 4-H and FFA members and volunteers to clean and prepare the grounds for the fair.