CARTHAGE, Mo. — Last week, Jana McLemore’s two 91-pound lambs, Pickles and Dexter, weren’t heavy enough to make the weigh-in at this week’s Jasper County Youth Fair.

So Jana, a Carthage sophomore, got busy feeding them twice a day — trying to beat the close to triple-digit temperatures by doing it early in the morning and late at night.

With the help of her mother, Robyn, she got the two ornery lambs up on the scales Wednesday morning in the livestock barn in Carthage Municipal Park to be judged.

“Until they got on that scale, we weren’t sure they’d make it, but they did,” grinned Jana. Pickles and Dexter weighed in at 98 and 102 pounds, squeaking by the 95-pound minimum.

GOAL SETTING

It’s that kind of goal setting, hard work and responsibility that Robyn McLemore said she likes about Jana participating in the fair — just like she used to as a Jasper County youth decades ago.

“I guess it’s the next generation,” the mother said. “Her dad, Gary, showed here, too, as a kid. It’s a good place to be.”

On Wednesday, it really was a good place to be: A light, intermittent rain and overcast skies kept area fairs, which included the Newton County Fair in Neosho and the Cherokee County Fair in Columbus, Kan., comfortable.

Monday and Tuesday, the area had seen record-setting temperatures topping 100 degrees just as the fairs kicked off.

After a brief respite, heat-index values are expected to climb back into the triple digits by Sunday.

Hot weather or not, those in attendance count it an annual tradition they wouldn’t miss.

“I was born and raised a mile from here, showed beef cattle as a kid here,” said Chris Cloud, now the adviser of the Carthage High School FFA, which now boasts an enrollment of 300 students.

“I’m still here,” he laughed as he groomed his showing of livestock Wednesday. He described the fair as a culmination of months of hard work by the youths in agricultural mechanics, field crops and animal science.

“My girls, ages 11, 9, and 5, are showing beef and hogs now,” he said.

Kaitlyn, the 9-year-old, was crowned Little Miss on Tuesday night for her efforts.

“I had to practice my speech about raising animals, pick out cute clothes, and do everything well,” she said, sporting a red and white sash and a tiara she said she’ll wear all week.

One of Cloud’s students, Marrisa Stevens, is following in the footsteps of her mother, Dina Stevens, by showing Santa Gertrudis heifers and bulls.

“The best part is you and your animal learning together, growing together, figuring things out as you go along,” she said from her cattle stall. “They all have personalities, and they’ve taught me so much. It’s dirty, it’s hot, and a lot of my friends say they don’t know how I do it. I tell them they’re just like people only with four legs.”

Such work hasn’t been easy this summer, noted Brian Nelson, who teaches agriculture at McDonald County High School, and has two children, Wyatt, 11, and Quincy, 9, following in mother Kasie’s footsteps showing animals.

“With the heat being so bad, we’ve kept fans on our animals, but we lost 40 chickens earlier this week,” he said. “We’re doing our work late at night to avoid the heat.”

NEWTON COUNTY

It was a similar story at the Newton County Fair near Crowder College, where Tipton Ford seventh-grader Olivia Thompson was tending to her poultry with the help of her parents, Kelly and Todd Thompson.

“A lot of our chickens died,” said Todd. “It’s been a rough year with the weather.”

But Olivia was undeterred.

“I’ve raised them from day-old chicks, spent a lot of time on them and have taught several of them tricks,” she said as she added feed to their cages in the small animal building.

Newton County Fair board member Steve Jones, who noted that misting fans in the beef and hog barns would help those in attendance stay cool when temperatures begin climbing again, said he was pleased with the turnout and enthusiasm of fair-goers.

“Our cattle entries are up, our hogs are up, and we’re looking for a good fair,” he said. “People keep coming in, and as long as they’re coming in, I guess things are growing.”



Three fairs

Fairs in Jasper County and Newton County, and Cherokee County at Columbus, Kan., continue through the end of the week with activities that include livestock shows, watermelon feeds for exhibitors, greased pig contests, 4-H exhibits and awards, barbecues and premium sales.