Thursday, July 22, 1999
Youths earn, learn at fair
Animals help pay for educations
BY AMY CAPPIELLO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDEPENDENCE — As the sweltering July heat settled around them Wednesday, the animals housed in the Kenton County Fair and Horse Show's livestock pavilion spent the afternoon lounging in hay, blissfully unaware of their future.
Hours later, their fate as next week's dinner had been decided.
The livestock featured in Wednesday's auction were raised by Northern Kentucky members of FFA and 4-H. But while they devote hours a day to tending these animals, their owners don't lament their sale.
“Once it's over, it's over and you can't do anything about it,” said 10-year-old Casey Jones, who brought two sheep to the fair.
Almost all the youths who bring animals to auction are as careful with their earnings as they are with their animals. The money is socked away in bank accounts for college.
Thirteen-year-old Christie Wilson has a good start to her college fund, thanks to her lambs. This is the third year Christie has shown the animals, and after her first two sales, which brought her $875 and $700 for lambs that didn't garner a prize, the Grand Champion lamb she brought this year should bring in a hefty amount.
Bryan Works, 19, a student at Murray State, is celebrating a decade-long run of raising steers. While he contends that raising the animals affords a good living, the ani mal sciences major doesn't want to farm full time.
“You don't make any money,” he said. “It's too hard, too much work.”
His love for the animals, though, has prompted him to help his brother Robert, 11, raise his steers. Robert, a student at Twenhofel Middle School, has been raising steers for two years. He earned four ribbons this year for showmanship and for his 1,357-pound steer, Lightning.
Bryan Works woke up at 4 a.m. Wednesday to take care of his steer, Buckeye. He's also raising four heifers and a bull at home to show at the state fair next month.
“I'll make enough to pay for a semester of college,” he said of Buckeye's proceeds. “I'll pay for the second semester with a crop of tobacco.”
Mr. Works credits the Northern Kentucky community for making the Livestock Auction so profitable. Everyone acts as a family, gathering for dinners every now and then, showing up at auctions.
“You call the buyers and ask them to come out and participate in the sale,” he said. “You don't ask them to buy your steers, but you ask them to ... look around. You invite them to dinner, write thank-you notes, call them.”
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Youths earn, learn at fair
