Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Hundreds of Roosevelt County children will be shown the money for taking care of their livestock, as the gavel comes down on the 20th anniversary Roosevelt County Fair junior livestock auction this morning.
The bidding begins at 9 a.m., livestock superintendent Mike O’Connor said.
“It’s a financial incentive to help them generate enough money to continue with their projects through the years,” O’ Connor said. “A lot of the kids save their money and it helps them go to college.”
O’Connor said that before the Roosevelt County Fair junior livestock auction began, county children only got premium money for their animals, which was much less than they could get at auction.
“It just shows the support of all of the businesses and individuals in the community that have supported the sale for 20 years.”
Kenny Richerson’s son Tyler showed a goat at the Roosevelt County Fair this year for the first time, and while Tyler won’t be selling any livestock this morning, Kenny believes it’s very important for his son to see the success other showers have.
“(It’s) very important,” Kenny said. “It gives them something to work towards, it gives them a sense of purpose. It gives them something good to work for and with, as far as their future and something to work to.”
Portales 10-year-old Braden Fraze was a first-timer at the fair this year, as well, and Braden did well, winning grand champion sheep in the first-year feeder class, as well as the county bred class.
“They’re pretty easy to show, because I’ve been working with them every night,” Braden said.
Braden’s father, Wade Fraze, talked about how hard many of Roosevelt County’s kids worked in getting their animals ready for this moment — in fact, Fraze’s kids got up at between 5 to 5:30 a.m. to feed their sheep.
“The one thing that people don’t realize is how many hours these kids work, last spring and through the summer,” Fraze said. “They were getting up, working all through the Summer, day and night.”
Fraze also said that most of the money earned at the auction
