I am 15 years old and this will be my eighth year in 4-H. I’ve attend the Lake County Fair every year since I was 8 years old as a clover bud with a Nigerian dwarf goat. My second year at 9 years old, I was able to take more than one animal and also take a market animal. So I started taking my breeding stock of Nigerian dwarf dairy goats and a Boer market goat.
I also have had fun every year entering my drawings, photographs, garden art, quilts and baked goods. Going to fair has always been the best part of the year.
Last year I attended the Redwood Empire Fair with my dairy goats. At the end they had their foundation animals being auctioned off. I didn’t know what the livestock auction was or what it meant so I started asking questions about it and was amazed to see the excitement in the arena as all the buyers who stayed until the end bid on these animals. I thought it was pretty cool that these animals were donated by local people so they could be auctioned off with all the money going to the fair foundation to use as they want to improve the fairgrounds, purchase equipment or enhance agricultural educational opportunities.
That’s when I decided I wanted to do something like this as a thank you to our fair. I have been breeding Nigerian dwarf dairy goats for eight years and Boer market goats for five years, taking both to our fair. This animal will come from my farm making it a born and raised Lake County market goat.
I decided this would be a great All Star project. In the 4-H program there is a star ranking that is awarded for accomplishments achieved. I am currently an Emerald Star with the next highest ranking being an All Star — the highest rank that a 4-H member can achieve at the county level. The goal of the All Star program is to recognize the achievement of active 4-H members and to offer resources and opportunities.
Now with the help of Jill Crane, Debbie Strickler and many others, the Lake County Fair Foundation is established for our Lake County Fair and I am donating my goat as the first foundation animal to be auctioned off this year at our fair.
So save the date: Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. at the Lake County Fair for our junior livestock auction, my animal will be the last auctioned off, so stick around until the end.
See you at the Lake County Fair Junior Livestock Auction,
Erica Illg is a member of the Cole Creek 4-H Club. 4-H Youth Development is a program of the University of California Cooperative Extension. For more information on the 4-H program contact U.C. Cooperative Extension, 883 Lakeport Blvd. or (707) 263-6838.
