Kids prepare, show dedication to fair

Opening ceremonies were to be today.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;By STEPHEN SIFF & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- Feet up on a bale of hay, rear stuck in a patio chair and nose deep in a paperback, 16-year-old Amanda Rex waits for the inevitable plop.
When Holsteins Fennel and Faleen deliver, down goes "The Jungle," a novel by Upton Sinclair, and up comes the pitchfork.
"You don't want to let it build up all day," said Amanda, settling back into her chair. "Basically, the point of being here is to keep the animals clean."
She will be there at the Trumbull County Fair from dawn to dusk, from now to Sunday doing it.
Dozens and dozens of children will be eating, breathing and sleeping Trumbull County Fair until Sunday, when the annual expo of agriculture draws to a close.
Although official opening ceremonies are today, many children began settling in with their animals Monday, as elsewhere on the fairgrounds vendors set up stands and unloaded vehicles.
Rides are open today from noon to 5 p.m. and 6 to 11 p.m.
The main attraction will be school bus racing in front of the grandstand at 7 p.m.
But animals that are to be a part of the fair must arrive by 4 p.m., and they can't leave early. As a result, their owners can't either.
Tristan and Tanner Thompson of Burghill plan to spend every day during the fair with their pigs Cletus and Oreo, and most nights with their family in an RV parked on the fairgrounds.
They look forward to it all year, said Tristan, 15.
What do they like, exactly?
"To be with the pigs more," said Tanner, 12.
Preparation
All year, children in 4-H animal clubs show dedication to their animals. They feed them, care for them, go to meetings and talk about them.
Pigs have to be taken for walks, sheep are shorn. During fair week -- which, in many cases culminates in the sale of the animal for slaughter -- that dedication goes to the next level.
"When his head is up and he's all cleaned up he is 'Hermando,'" said Kore Bitner, 13, holding a grooming brush away from the giant pink nose of her year-old, half-ton steer as she prepped him for his big week.
"When he is dirty, he is just 'Harold.'"
From dawn until dusk, Kore plans on bathing and grooming the steer to his most suave, and for extra points in the show ring.
She plans to leave the grounds only to sleep at home in West Farmington.
Amanda says will also leave most nights to sleep at her grandmother's house in Fowler. She might spend a few evenings with her Holsteins, however, to make sure they stay pretty.
"By the end of the week, you are so tired it doesn't matter where you sleep," she said. "I love these guys."
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;siff@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;