Swine show, motocross take over fairgrounds Tuesday

Adrian Holtgrewe, 7, left, watches as her cousin, Sloane Schmidt, 2, sprays a cool mist on the pigs Tuesday, which was the day for swine to shine at the Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County Fair.
Adrian Holtgrewe, 7, left, watches as her cousin, Sloane Schmidt, 2, sprays a cool mist on the pigs Tuesday, which was the day for swine to shine at the Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County Fair.

Students brushed, washed and guided their pigs, preparing to enter the show ring as the sound of squealing swine and motorcycle engines filled the dusty, hot summer air.

Nearby, people of all ages flew over hills on electric dirt bikes as the friction stirred dirt into the air and the smell shifted from pigs and funnel cake to burning rubber.

The Jefferson City Jaycees Fair included an FFA and 4-H market hog show and motocross race Tuesday evening. Signs reminding attendees to social distance and wash their hands were scattered around the fairgrounds, including a screen that switched from social distancing and hand washing reminders to advertisements.

At the hog show, students guided their hogs around the show ring as the judge rated the hogs on traits such as muscle, leanness, shape, proportion and coordination.

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Since school was canceled due to COVID-19, the students got to take a pig home in the spring, allowing them to spend more time preparing for the hog show.

Haley Borgmeyer, a senior at Blair Oaks High School, spent time with her pig every day, frequently walking it, feeding it and just sitting near it so it could get used to her.

Borgmeyer, who has been in FFA for three years and was in 4-H for about 10, said she enjoys the opportunities FFA gives her because it allows her to advocate for agriculture, raise hogs and show them off in hog shows.

"It's a cool experience," she said. "Not everyone gets to raise their own hogs on their hog farm."

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Dacey Colbert, a sophomore at Russellville High School, competed in the hog show for the first time Tuesday. Colbert joined FFA last year because she said she loves agriculture and animals, and she wanted to learn more about them, she said.

At first, she didn't like it. She had no experience with hogs and didn't know how to walk them or take care of them, so she told herself she was not going to do the hog show next year. But after getting the hang of it, she's excited to compete again.

"In the last couple months, I really got it down and figured it out and started to really enjoy it," she said.