Workday set at show barn this Saturday
By Kathy Thomson
One of the biggest annual events in the county, the local stock show, takes place next week, and final preparations are underway.
“We had our finance committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 13, and it looked pretty good,” said Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association president Bronco Askew. “The next big deal is the barn clean-up on Saturday.”
Barn Clean-Up Day
The stock show barn clean up day is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
“The more people we have, the faster it will go,” said Albany FFA instructor Chris Beard. “Bring your rakes, brooms, and gloves. If we have a good turnout, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.”
Shackelford County 4-H members, Albany and Moran FFA students, and parents of all of the exhibitors are expected to help.
“I feel like we have a wonderful amount of community and parental involvement,” said county agent Kloey Painter. “This is really special. Everyone here pitches in to help the kids.”
Show Schedule
Some notable changes have been made to the show schedule this year.
“I don’t know how our new format will work,” said Askew. “But we’ll try it, and I hope it does what we want it to do. We are hoping to get more people to stay for the sale but not crowd Molly too much in getting the sale catalogs ready.”
Thursday, Jan. 23
Sheep, goats, and swine will all weigh in on Thursday, Jan. 23 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 24
Swine will be exhibited starting at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, with the gilts. Barrow classes will be followed by junior swine showmanship, then senior swine showmanship.
Goats will also show on Friday. Does will begin showing as soon as the last swine showmanship class has been completed.
Junior goat showmanship will follow the wether goat judging. Senior goat showmanship will be the next class.
Sheep will show on Friday, Jan. 24, following the goat showmanship classes. Breeding ewes will be followed by the market lambs.
Sheep showmanship classes, first junior and then senior exhibitors will follow the sheep judging.
Poultry and rabbits will check in between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24.
Cattle can start arriving at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24.
Steers and heifers will be weighed in or have their papers checked between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24.
Saturday, Jan. 25
The cattle classes, heifers then steers, will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Junior cattle showmanship will be held immediately after the cattle judging, followed by senior cattle showmanship.
Doe rabbit classes will follow the cattle showmanship classes.
Junior and then senior rabbit showmanship exhibitors will compete after the buck rabbit classes.
Poultry classes will follow the senior rabbit showmanship; then the junior and senior poultry showmanship classes will take place.
Pee Wee showmanship competitors will be next.
Showmanship belt buckles will be presented, and graduating seniors will be recognized prior to the auction.
The premium sale is expected to begin at 1:00 p.m.
Concession Stand
The concession stand will open at around 7:00 a.m. on show days.
Parents of show exhibitors who have not yet been contacted by Tisha Wilkins are asked to call her at 325-660-7443 to find out what still needs to be donated for the concession stand.
“We are also short on workers for Saturday,” said Boyett. “Call Leslie Belcher to find out what time slots still need to be covered.”
Fundraising
Finance committee members plan to call previous donors who have not yet responded to a recent mail-out, according to Askew.
“We are at about $19,000.00 this week,” said association treasurer Molly Cauble. “We are needing $20,000 just to cover expenses. Everything over the costs to run the show goes directly to the bidder’s pool, which goes directly to the kids.”
According to organizers, donations are still needed in order to offset show expenses and provide prizes and premiums to the exhibitors.
Tax deductible donations can be mailed to Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association, Attn: Molly Cauble, P.O. Box 2439, Albany TX 76430.
Sales of tickets from two raffles will also be used to raise funds for the annual livestock show, as will sales from the concessions stand.
A Savage Stevens 12 gauge model 320 pump action shotgun is being raffled for $5 per ticket, or five tickets for $20.
Michael Rabb and Cody Foster with Rust Processing Deer Plant have donated a processed hog.
Tickets for the hog raffle are $1 each, or $5 for six.
