Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
link Kevin Wilson: Staff photo
Kasyn Creighton of Elida 4-H/FFA shows her grand champion pig during the Roosevelt County Fair junior livestock sale. Creighton’s pig sold for $4,000, and received a $200 sponsor add-on.
Sheltering the grand champion meat pen rabbits from the brief, heavy rain on Friday, Ethan Friend waited for his time to get in the sale ring at the Roosevelt County Fair.
Dottie, Tt and Brandy, his three rabbits, snuggled up in their basket and made a cute trio when he walked into the sale ring. Ethan showed his basket of rabbits to the bidders as he got $700 for his champions.
“I love spending time with my rabbits,” said Ethan, a member of the Shooting Stars 4-H club.
Ethan said this was the first time he has won grand champion and made it into the sale at Roosevelt County.
Brennan Friend, Ethan’s mother, is from the New Mexico Christian Children’s home where seven from the home, including four of her own children, made the sale.
“It’s been a great year for us,” Brennan Friend said.
There were 53 animals in the Roosevelt County’s Livestock sale Friday night, a way of honoring the 4-H and FFA members who have worked with their animals for months. Spending time and money on their animals, the members in the sale get the opportunity to earn money for their hard work.
Local businesses, community members, organizations and buyers clubs bid on the animals up for sale. According to the Junior Livestock Sale board, the students collectively made $163,350 on Friday before add-ons, leftover bidder money added to sales. Last year the sale made $164,550.
To be sure his third-place dairy heifer shined in the ring, Anthony Dockter, 10, put gold glitter on her body. Anthony said White Tail, his heifer, was born in January and he walked her every day before the fair.
He said he had never showed a dairy heifer before, but he had a lot of fun raising her.
This was not Anthony’s first time selling at the fair as he sold his meat pen chickens last year.
His friend, Wyait Woodburn, 10, selling a second-place cross breed pig, was excited to sell for the first time.
“I’m excited for the money. I get to buy one thing with the money, but the rest goes into my account,” Wyait smiled widely, jumping up and down.