Community gears up for fair time in Healdsburg

As the local community gears up to celebrate the 62nd annual
Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair, fair exhibitors and parade
entrants are hustling to get their ducks in a row. Everyone knows
fair time is fun time, but how much preparation goes into making
event happen?
Youthful exhibitors entering still exhibits are putting final
touches on their handiwork and those showing livestock at the fair
are preparing their animals for the showring. While this is an
exhilarating time for some, for others the final week before fair
time is wrought with stress.
Twelve-year-old Sophia Teldeschi, a Westside 4-H member, hopes
2011 will mark her third year showing market swine. Sophia will
spend the coming week washing, shaving, and primping her hogs Daisy
and Duke, but there is no guarantee she will be able to sell them
at the auction.
In addition to caring for market animals, exhibitors must
satisfy certain standards to sell their animals. Market hogs, for
example, must weigh between 220 and 280 pounds to sell at
auction.
Sophia, who has raised Yorkshire crosses Daisy and Duke since
January, worries neither of her hogs will make weight. While she
will compete in the showmanship category regardless, if her hogs
don’t fatten up quickly Sophia estimates she’ll be out the hundreds
of dollars already invested in her project.
Sophia will know by 9 a.m. Thursday whether her hogs made the
cut. Until then, she’ll be gathering grooming supplies, loading her
tack box, and ensuring her 4-H uniform is spotless come show day.
The drama doesn’t end there, because if all goes as planned she
will send the hogs she worked hard to raise to the
slaughterhouse.
“The first year I was really sad,” Sophia said. “I cried.” But,
as a seasoned exhibitor, now she deals with saying goodbye by
“knowing all my hard work went into something and knowing it’s
going to good use.”
Livestock exhibitors aren’t the only busy bees this week. Parade
participants will spend the week preparing their entries for the
Twilight Parade at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 26.
The parade draws a crowd large enough to stop traffic on 101 and
fill every restaurant seat in town. Hours of effort are volunteered
preparing parade entries in hopes of earning a coveted trophy. For
the Teldeschi family, all aspects of the fair are a family
tradition.
While Sophia feeds Daisy and Duke special food and crosses her
fingers, her father John is gearing up for the parade. Having
driven entries in the parade for more than a decade, this year he
has entered a 1938 Ford 1-ton flatbed. The truck came with a ranch
John’s father purchased more than fifty years ago.
John, like so many others in the community, spent the past
weekend crafting decorations to ready the truck for its big cruise
through town. In honor of this year’s “Send in the Clown” parade
theme, there will be a clown along for the ride.
Preparing a parade entry, like raising an animal, requires
substantial unpaid hard work. However, locals are willing to expend
time and effort to put on one of Healdsburg’s longest-standing
events.
“The parade is good for Healdsburg because it brings the
community together and it’s a great town tradition,” John said.
The 62nd annual Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair
Schedule
at Recreation Park (corner of University and Piper)
Admission is free
Thursday, May 26th
LIVESTOCK WEIGH-IN
6am – 9am: 4-H Swine Arrive
9am: All 4-H swine weigh-ins
NOTE: All swine must arrive by 9am – no exceptions!
**11am: Mandatory Exhibiters Meeting **
9-10am: STILL EXHIBITS CHECK-IN
Judging at 10:00am
1-3pm: PLANTING OF BARRELS
3:30pm: GARDEN BARREL JUDGING
6pm: PARADE
Theme: Send in the Clowns
Friday, May 27th
7:30am: Mandatory Small animal exhibitor’s meeting
8am: LIVESTOCK SHOW
Ring 1
FFA Swine Showmanship followed by market class
4-H Swine Showmanship followed by market class
LUNCH BREAK
Ring 2
4-H Sheep Showmanship followed by market class
FFA Sheep Showmanship followed by market class
Goat Showmanship, followed by Market Class
Breeding Sheep 4-H & FFA combined
SMALL ANIMAL WEIGH-IN
All Market Rabbits and Poultry must be in place
and ready for weigh-in by 8:30am
8:30am: RABBIT, POULTRY & CAVY SHOW
Market Rabbits
Breeding Rabbits & Cavy followed by Showmanship
Market Poultry
Breeding Poultry followed by Showmanship
10:00am: Showmanship
2pm: 4-H and FFA Dog Show
4pm
FFA Beef Showmanship followed by market class
4-H Beef Showmanship followed by market class
Dairy Class
10am–4pm: PETTING ZOO
10am-8pm: STILL EXHIBIT TENT OPEN
5:00pm: ADULT SHOWMANSHIP
6:30pm: CAKE & GARDEN BARREL AUCTION
7-9:30pm (approximate time): DJ Nina Adams
Saturday, May 28th
8:30am: SMALL ANIMAL ROUND ROBIN
10am: LARGE ANIMAL ROUND ROBIN COMPETITION
FFA followed by 4-H
10am–4pm: PETTING ZOO
10am-8pm: STILL EXHIBIT TENT OPEN
Still Exhibit pickup 12 noon – 1pm
Noon: PET PARADE
12-3pm: KIDS’ DAY ACTIVITIES
Fun and prizes for all ages
Pet parade, diaper derby, egg toss, sack race, bubble gum
blowing, etc.
4pm: AWARDS CEREMONY
Main Show ring
All exhibitors must be in uniform
5:00pm: LIVESTOCK AUCTION
FFA followed by 4-H
Beef, sheep, rabbits, swine, poultry & goat
See fair official if you need help bidding or have questions.
Buyers cards and sale order available at the auction.
Sir Rusty drawing will be held during the auction.