Three barns full of FFA and 4-H students - and their animals - outlasted Monday's excessive heat to show the animals and projects they spent the past several months raising and preparing.
At least 16 of those students are "fourth-generation farmers," great-grandchildren of early-1900s Osage Bend dairy farmers George and Bertha Braun.
"That's kind of where it all started. ... They continue the tradition," said Meghan Welty, granddaughter of the original Braun farmers. Her own daughters join 14 of their first and second cousins in showing their agricultural pursuits through 4-H and FFA at the Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County Fair each year.
Four generations brought these young agriculturalists from Braun Family Farm to the Jefferson City Jaycees Fairgrounds. George and Bertha Braun had eight children, four of whom now are watching their grandchildren carry on the family tradition, which has spread to farms in Eugene and St. Thomas in addition to the original in Osage Bend.
"Now the great-grandchildren are on the farms working it and showing their projects; 4-H and FFA is a big part of it because it helps them learn," Welty said.
The current generation spans eight clubs. Reaghan Cook and Riglee Welty participate in Wardsville 4-H; Michael, Claire, Sabrina, Ethan, Chesney and Cameron Luebbering in St. Thomas 4-H; Jacob and Leo Hager in Eugene 4-H; Bailey, Jesse and Cody Braun in Osage Bend 4-H; and Heather, Matt and Lucy Luebbering in Koeltztown 4-H. Cook is also a member of Nichols Career Center FFA; Jacob and Leo Hager members of Eugene FFA; and Michael, Heather, Matt and Lucy Luebbering members of Fatima FFA.
Students can participate in 4-H from ages 5-18, and can participate in FFA through age 21.
Reaghan Cook, Welty's eldest daughter, has been showing steers in the market beef category for six years.
She started young on the exhibits side of 4-H in the cake-decorating, country cured ham, gardening and photography categories.
"I got into these (steers) because my mom used to do them when she was younger," said Cook, 15.
Her preparation for this year's fair started in December when she chose two calves to raise. She began training them on the halter and drag rope in February. "That will teach them they can't get away," she explained.
The prep work involves making sure the steers fill out well to market standards and follow a lead well during the show.
"You have to keep them fed and keep them watered," Cook said. "I walk with them every day, give them baths."
Her work has paid off. Monday night, Reaghan received blue ribbons for both her steers, finishing second in one class and seventh in another class.
Leo Hager, 14, who shows heifers in the breeding beef category, outlined a similar process.
"We rinse them every morning and night, and then we blow-dry them. We walk them every day," Hager said.
Their siblings' and cousins' show activities include market beef, hog, lamb, rabbit and chicken; breeding beef, lamb and rabbit; and exhibits such as arts and crafts, country cured hams, gardening, shooting sports and woodworking.
Welty's youngest daughter, Riglee Welty, won grand champion in last night's market rabbit show.
While the Braun clan consider themselves a fairly close-knit family, the fair presents a family reunion of sorts.
"This is the first time I've seen their steers and the first time they've seen mine," Cook said.
The family-filled atmosphere doesn't strike them as odd, though.
"It's mostly normal," Hager said. "They've all been here every year."
And it probably will stay that way, at least for the forseeable future.
"I'm hoping to do it until I'm 21," Cook said. "I really want to show a bull - I have to convince my mom that."
"They've all been doing it since they were 8 years old, and they'll probably all be doing it until they're 18," Welty added. "There's still cousins that have little babies, and they're probably going to be involved in the program at some point, too."