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Taste…Island Pace
The
annual agricultural fair at Coombs, hosted by the Arrowsmith Agricultural group
is in its 99th year. Amazing to think that in 1913, the local
community had its first fair. How many of us know anyone even born in that
year. It gives me a warm & cozy sense of attachment to my place in my
community and a feeling of solidarity with all the farmers that have come
before me.
Coombs fair doesn’t have a midway, so
no Ferris wheel or rides or games to lose your money on. It is a real,
old-fashioned country fair with livestock shows, a couple horse shows, some
food vendors, and an area for retail display and sales. There are also
competitions for bakes goods, jams, preserves, fruit, and veggies. A large
number of 4-H kids show their projects and their animals at the fair as well
and the organizers make sure the 4-H have a prominent place in the events.
4-H is a great organization that
believes kids (ages 8 to 19 yrs.) learn best by doing. There are many projects
so it is not all about animals. Photography, small engines, cooking, &
sewing are just a few of the “non-animal” projects a kid can do. I have been
involved with the goat section of the Comox Valley club for a number of years.
One year as an assistant leader and now I am resource person, so instruct on
showing or whatever they ask me to do.
The goat show at Coombs is a place
where local people with goats, and not necessarily purebred or registered
goats, can show them off. There is a 4-H show, where kids that are doing one or
more projects involving goats can show. In addition, there is an “open” show;
the 4-H kids can show their goats in the open show if they want, and members of
the community can enter as well. I showed my girls for a number of years but it
has just been too busy the last couple of years, and I have been taking a
break.
This year I received an email four
days before the show that they were unable to find a judge and would I be
willing to step in. I agreed, I had been thinking about going to the fair for
one of the days anyways and this helped defer the cost of gas, parking and it
meant I got in free. I am not a trained or licensed judge and I have actually
thought about taking the 2-day course and the test to become a licensed judge
but don’t have the time. I have kept goats for 17 years now and continually
strive to increase my knowledge and learn from other people. So at a local show
I am pretty well one of the experts.
It was an interesting group of goats;
some Toggenburgs and Tog crosses brought in by people I knew, who I had sold
goats to or they had used some of my bucks for breeding, a group of Nigerian Dwarfs,
and a couple goats with horns. Nigerian Dwarfs are the smallest of the dairy
breed and a dairy goat but I don’t know anyone who actually milks them. The
kids (babies) are extremely cute – like an adorable stuffed animal, the adults
not so cute. Like any animal that is a dwarf, they are not proportional. The
head of the goat is small but still seems larger than it should be, they also
look fat as the internal organs, and especially the rumen (one of the four
stomachs) is larger than it would be in a full size dairy goat as well.
I had a good time judging. It was very
hot and we had a large tent canopy to show under for shade. I kept the classes
short and tried my best to provide clear reasoning for why one animal was
better or worse. I find, for myself, that I don’t mind losing if there are
clear reasons. Part of judging is knowing my own prejudices and making sure I
don’t use them as my only criteria. I think a judge has to think about the big
picture; what the animal is for, and how it will be when it is grown. It is
always a matter of opinion in the end but I want to be able to defend my
reasoning. It is a good exercise for my brain
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