Show time

By ANN WRIGHT

Ann.Wright@gjsentinel.com

The carnival and side show stages were quiet, and although the temperature had barely hit 80, there was already a line for limeade.

It was 9 a.m. on Wednesday and the gates for the Mesa County Fair didn’t officially open until 11. The outer areas of the fairgrounds were relatively peaceful, but the United Companies Arena was a flurry of activity.

Electric livestock clippers buzzed, combs fought with tangles and “hairspray” for livestock was profuse. Steers were being primped for the market beef show underway inside the open air arena.

In an outside corner spot, 9-year-old Kodie Smith was getting Blue ready with the help of several friends and family members.

Smith has owned Blue, who is actually mostly black since he’s a black Angus cross, since he was about 8 months old. Blue’s dad was named Blue Moon, “so I kept it going,” said Smith, who is part of the Mid-Valley 4-H Club.

This is Smith’s first year raising a steer and there has been a learning curve. She worked to keep Blue healthy, trained him, fed him, groomed him all in preparation for this day.

“He’s sweet, kind and nice,” Smith said about her 1,046-pound steer. “He likes to get kisses. He kisses me back.”

Despite this, she knows that come today’s livestock auction, she must say good-bye. “I don’t want to sell him, but I have to,” she said as she shrugged on her longsleeved show shirt and snapped up the front.

“I already cried, like twice,” she said.

Up until the moment the call went out for Smith’s show class, Blue was combed and shaved to contour his black coat to advantage. Then the duo were off, Blue’s dark eyes even wider than usual because of his unfamiliar surroundings and Smith nervous to step into the fair arena with a steer for the first time.

Around the corner and under a canopy complete with fans, camp chairs and a cattle chute, 18-year-old Madison Hawkins was both happy to be at the fair and sad that it was the last in which she’ll be showing animals.

For her final fair, she was showing a couple of lambs and Empire, a 1,323-pound steer. “He’s a Shorthorn, so he’s a pretty red and white,” said Hawkins, a member of Fruita FFA.

Empire’s name is a nod to playing cards. Hawkins has a cards theme for her steers’ names: Joker, Ace, Spade, Casino and so on.

She started showing at the fair when she was 8 and in 4-H. Her first year, she did a pottery project and some other things. When she was 10, she began showing steers.

Each one has had a personality, each one hard to say good-bye to at the livestock auction.

“It’s going to be even worse this year,” Hawkins said with a fond look at Empire.

“He’s a spicy one,” she said.

He can develop an attitude when stressed, but when calm he’s “a big teddy bear” that likes back scratches, she said.

“I love him. I always do,” she said. “You always bond with them.”

Along with missing her

See SHOW, page 8A ➤

Kodie Smith, 9, in her first year showing steer, makes a face while turning her steer “Blue” while showing him during the Mesa County Fair at the Mesa County Fairgrounds on Wednesday. Blue received a sixth-place ribbon in his class in the market beef show and Smith learned some lessons on how to show an animal in her first fair.

Photos by LARRY ROBINSON/ The Daily Sentinel

Madison Hawkins washes her lamb before showing the sheep at the Mesa County Fair on Wednesday. In her final fair, the 18-year-old member of Fruita FFA also showed a steer — Empire — for the final time, earning a fourth-place ribbon in Empire’s class. Hawkins started showing at the fair when she was 8 and in 4-H.

Kodie Smith brushes her cow “Blue”, a Black angus cross steer, before showing him at the Mesa County Fair at the Mesa County Fairgrounds on Wednesday. In her first year raising a steer for her Mid-Valley 4-H club, Smith faced a learning curve.

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animals, she will miss the fair itself. She’ll probably be back next summer, but it will be different, she said.

She plans to attend Colorado Mesa University in the fall, and “it’s going to be a big change,” Hawkins said.

There won’t be animals to care for and train every day. She’ll miss the atmosphere of friends and support she’s gained at the fair. She’ll miss, “oh my goodness, everything.”

She looks around at the younger kids, like Smith, and can recall those early days of hard work and fair showings that were great and others that didn’t turn out quite as hoped. “I remember when I was that age, it was hard to ask for help,” she said.

Make friends and ask for advice, she recommended.

“Stay strong. Be positive. Enjoy it,” Hawkins said.

When Hawkins is showing her steer, she wants to set him up as best she can for the judge to view so she always shakes the judge’s hand and she likes to smile. Some judges like the smiles, others don’t. You never know, she said.

How her steer will do in the arena also can be unpredictable. During the market beef show, Empire was stressed despite his training. “You never know how it will be,” she said.

On this Wednesday morning, Empire received a fourth-place ribbon in his market steer class.

And Blue, who became stubborn as Smith tried to lead him around the arena, received a sixth-place ribbon in his class.

Maybe Blue acted up because he sensed how nervous she was, Smith speculated.

There is a lot to learn, so she likes watching the older kids show their steers, she said while her sister curled Smith’s long hair in preparation to go back to the arena with Blue for the showmanship classes.

Blue also was getting combed and sprayed as Smith’s mom, Melissa Russell, pitched in to help her daughter as the time ticked beyond noon and the temperature rose above 90.

The beef show continued in the arena as a juggler performed on a stage in the next building over. The line for limeade was twice as long, and the gates to the fair were wide open.

Madison Hawkins shows her ewe during the Mesa County Fair at the Mesa County Fairgrounds on Wednesday. This is the final fair for the 18-year-old, who will attend Colorado Mesa University next year, but not be involved in showing animals at the fair. She said she’ll miss the atmosphere of friends and support she’s gained at the fair.

LARRY ROBINSON/ The Daily Sentinel