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8/11/2009 4:18 PM

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Scott Beveridge

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WAYNESBURG – As mid-afternoon sets in today, it’s time for Sadie Wright to give her animal a cool shower to primp him for the tense steer show at Greene County Fair.

“Work from the bottom up. Work from the bottom up,” her father Jeff says while she hoses off her 1,198-pound black and white Maine-Anjou named Domino.

With the temperature in the 80s, giving the steer a quick body temperature change with cool water might stress the animal, said Jeff Wright of Mt. Morris.

There are 33 steers in the main show barn today awaiting their turn in the in the 4-H show. The children who will parade the animals, beginning at 6:30 p.m., have been working hard all week to prepare for the event that leads up to a market sale Thursday night.

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In fact, most of these children raised the animals from birth to sell them at the fair to raise money for 4-H scholarships.

“It gives you a lot of responsibility,” Sadie Wright said.

“I really enjoy having all of my animals and taking care of them,” added Chelsea Moore, 15, of Spraggs, who will show a 1,256 pound gray steer.

While the hours count down, the atmosphere is relaxed in the barn where the animals are tied to fences and lying on the ground. Rows of fans keep the animals cool and pampered. Adults play board games with the children, serve meals or nap in a lawn chair.

“This is our family reunion, the week at the fair,” said a parent, Louise Hildreth of Sycamore.

Outside a boy uses a brush to pull out the knots in the tail of his Simmental cross steer.

His father explains that the judges will be looking for animals with well-groomed, long hair that have a good meat capacity.

“When you by a market steer here, you know exactly what’s in your freezer,” said the father, George Finnegan of Wind Ridge.

The animals are antibiotic free, and will sell at market for as much as $3,000 apiece, he said.

When that time comes, Chelsea Moore’s friends will find her in a corner crying, joined by her friends who will also have tears streaming down their cheeks.

This is her eighth year at the show, and she has cried each time over parting with her animals, she said.

The 4-H market sale will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.


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