Livestock Club

I was a 4-H member for years and although I grew up in the country, I never took a livestock project while being a 4-H member. Years later, as my own children became involved in 4-H, I was a little surprised when my middle child, Stefanie, announced that she wanted to take a market hog for her project. We lived on a farm and certainly had the space to raise one, but did we have the knowledge? Not really, but we dove into the market hog project with a lot of enthusiasm. I sent my kids with their grandpa and they came back with four market hogs. We would send our best two to the Marshall County Fair, although at the time we really had no idea what “best” meant. Because the kids had decided to take market hogs, we joined the Marshall County Livestock Club. The club is made up of a group of parents and the kids who take livestock to the fair to be exhibited and sold.

Over the years, my kids became more knowledgeable about their animals, and we finished from worst to first and everywhere in between. Being a member of the club and taking a livestock project to the fair taught my kids valuable life lessons they will never forget, such as money management, being responsible for the health and well-being of a living animal, the significance of record-keeping, the importance of friendship, the thrill of competition and many other things. This is truly a family project as everyone gets involved with all aspects of the project from feeding the animal to cleaning pens and grooming the animal. I can honestly say I’ve shaved a pig….and a goat! The Marshall County Livestock Club proudly awards annual scholarships to its members who have completed their freshman year of college. In 2013, my son, Cole, was the recipient of a $3,000 scholarship, along with five other club members; they are a very generous group of people. The scholarship is funded by donations raised on the night of the auction, the re-sale of auction animals and through fundraisers throughout the year. The club truly believes in having children further their education and rewarding them if they have earned it. Raising livestock is not cheap or easy; it’s a lot of hard, dirty, time-consuming work. However, throughout it all, we always knew we could count on any member of the Marshall County Livestock Club for help or advice. I’m pretty sure that the 12 years we were involved in the club and “lived” at the fair for a week in our camper will be some of the best memories my kids have of their childhood—I know they are some of my best memories.