Thursday marked the second day of the 59th Annual Brown County Youth Fair which featured the Market Lamb and Swine shows.

The weather was still very chilly but that didn’t stop family and friends from watching the kids and their animals “strut their stuff”.  The parking lot was a sea of cars, filled to the brim with some even parking illegally by blocking drives and along the road beside the Home Economics building.

Judging the market lamb show was Charles Seidensticker of Ira, Texas.  While judging the showmanship categories, Siedensticker commented on the quality of both the animals and participants of Brown County.

“As an Ag teacher, I work with children and their animals daily,” stated Seidensticker.  “Brown County children in their showmanship are as high quality as any around the state.

He also commented on the fact that sometimes the showmanship category is affected by how the day has gone for both the animal and the owner.  The animals are in all shapes and sizes and their owners ranged from 3rd to 12th grades, creating a variety of skill levels.  Of the younger children, he encouraged them by letting them know that they would mature in their showmanship in the coming years and that it sometimes just takes practice and getting comfortable in the show ring.

When the swine show started, it got even more packed.  If you found a parking spot, the next challenge was to find a seat in the overcrowded bleachers.  It was standing room only even in the aisles and steps to the bleachers.

Judging the swine show was Kevin Lynch of Splendora, Texas.  Being from an area near Houston, Lynch spoke about  the drive to Brownwood and how when he got into range of the local radio stations he was able to enjoy coverage of the youth fair and interviews of the kids involved with the shows.

“I enjoyed hearing about the Brown County Youth Fair on the radio as I made the drive,” stated Lynch.   He was impressed of all the coverage that the Brown County Youth Fair received that is given as a service to the community.  In the Houston area, media coverage and advertising is too expensive to consider.

The swine show ran a little later than expected and caused a delay for the beginning of the style show in the Home Economics Building.  The 7:00pm show was pushed back 30 minutes so all those who had entries in the livestock show would be able to participate in the style show.  Kids from a variety of ages participated in the style show with clothing they made themselves and modeled for the crowd.  The clothing items were anything from casual dress to costumes.  Each entrant walked the runway as a short biography of themselves was read which told of their activities and interests.

Behind the scenes, Youth Fair Board members and volunteers worked diligently despite still having difficulties with the new computer software that is now being used to track entries and results.  One of them even stayed overnight at the BCYF office to complete the job of imputing entries for Thursday’s shows.  Many thanks go out to everyone who works tirelessly to make the show a success for the kids.

Watch for full results and photos to be posted throughout the week.

Click the photo slideshow below for photos from day 1 and day 2 of the 2011 Brown County Youth Fair.

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