Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair opens with goats, motorcycles and happy families

As Vanderburgh County Fair president Jeff Ziliak stepped up to the mic for the opening ceremony on Monday, gold and green shimmered along the back of the stage.

Friends caught up and volunteers passed out programs in the audience below him as his voice boomed over the chatter.

“I’d like to welcome you all to the 102nd Vanderburgh County Fair,” Ziliak said, looking out over the crowd. People spilled out of the seats into the aisles, along the walls. “I’m very glad you’re all here.”

The Vanderburgh County Fair opened its gates to an excited crowd of 4-H members, county residents, locals and plenty of farm animals. They flowed in and out of showrooms, through barns and into lines for funnel cakes and lemon shake-ups despite heat and looming rain clouds.

At the opening ceremony, fair officials recognized the 4-H club’s scholarship recipients and tenure award winners. Their names were called and they walked onto the stage, smiles wide, as the audience applauded. Outside, rides whirled, cows mooed and engines revved as the first day of the fair kicked into gear.

'Easily distracted by goats'

In the middle of the show barn, with the crowd watching, Nolan the pygmy goat did NOT want to walk.

The black goat’s hooves dug into the dirt as his trainer, 12-year-old Veronica Orth, tried tugging on his rope lead.

No luck. She tried again, this time pulling the rope with one hand and pushing his tail end with the other. Finally, coaxing him along with smiles and “come on”-s, Nolan made his way around the ring in short, stubborn steps, where he and Veronica were presented with a blue ribbon and, later on, the first place trophy for goats 2 years old and over.

Training goats means teaching them to walk, working their muscles and, maybe most importantly, bonding with them. Veronica talks with her goats to forge that bond.

“I just sit down and talk to them, saying ‘you did a great job. You did great, ‘you can do this,’” Veronica said. “Just encouraging them.” Her blue competition shirt read "easily distracted by goats."

Veronica won first for the two pygmy goats she showed — stubborn Nolan as well as Barbie, a doe. She was especially proud, she said, because her brother, cousins and aunts have all participated.

“To get that championship was really good,” Veronica said. “Just to pass down the generations.”

Getting ready for the show

Next to the pygmy goat show, Aubree Kron and her sister, Emme, were taking care of Daisy and Chippy, the pigs they’ll show Wednesday. Aubree, standing next to Daisy as she brushed her, was only about a head taller than the black-and-pink pig.

They’re their cousins’ pigs, Aubree said, but the sisters take care of them over the summer. Asked if they were excited to show them, they scrunched up their faces with a smile and squealed “yeah!”

Across the fairgrounds, alpacas and llamas lounged around, jaws working as straw stuck straight out of their thick coats. Dottie, a little white alpaca led by Lincoln Ash, made her way through an obstacle course set up in the middle of the barn. Humidity hung in the air, and country rock played from a radio in the back. As the chorus to “Life is a Highway” kicked off, Dottie took shaky steps up a teeter-totter. She paused for a minute, balancing in the middle.

I wanna ride it all night –

... Dottie’s weight shifted forward, and she landed with a bump ...

– long.

The Ash family have been caring for and working with alpacas for four years, starting when Lincoln and his father, Dustin, saw them at that year’s county fair. Dottie stood next to Rosalie, who’ll be shown by Lincoln’s sister Lily and whose coat was being carefully hand-clipped by mom Monica.

The alpacas are judged on several factors as part of the show, which will take place Wednesday. Part of that is the obstacle course, where alpacas have to follow certain patterns. They’re also judged on appearance, or “showmanship,” which is why Rosalie’s coat matters.

“We get them sheared once a year, so the shearers don’t pay a lot of attention to how perfect they are,” Monica said. “So we’re trying to shape her up a little bit.”

Projects on display

Inside the activities center, kids raced down the aisles to show their parents their projects, everything from plates of cherry tomatoes to poster boards to decorated cakes.

First-grader Emma Tharp grinned as she pointed to the watercolor she’d brought in, decorated with a rainbow “Mini 4-H” ribbon. In it, a bright flower smiles over sparkly butterflies. Her secret? “Watercolor and glitter glue.”

On the table below the picture sat another of Emma’s three projects, a poster about squirrels. Emma spent a long time on it, her mom Olivia said, and she made it all herself for the fair.

A few tables away, Ian Harris was visiting the fair for the first time since his family moved to the area last year. He didn’t have a project out, but his favorite display was the Lego builds. “Ooh, the Millennium Falcon!” he said.

Chaos at its finest

The roar of engines soared all the way to the top of the packed bleachers, despite the dark gray skies. The fair's motocross dirt bike race started at 6:30 p.m., and the crowd was ready for the action.

Looking out into the grandstands, though, this group of racers weren’t all tall enough to ride the rides. Kids raced with their parents in the ring, wobbling over hills. And when one turned too hard on a corner and fell, an “ooh” rippled through the crowd as his mom helped him up.

For the next race, a group of older kids zoomed out. One, No. 98, pulled up front immediately. He didn't slow through the turns, and he accelerated to jump the hills others go over one by one. The crowd began to cheer, and the announcer’s microphone sounded over the engines.

“If you’ve never seen this race before,” he warned, “what you’re about to witness could be chaos at its finest.”

Number 98 zipped across the finish line as the first drop of rain fell from the sky.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair opens to excitement despite heat