More Than a Sale: Laramie County Youth Take Center Stage

As another Laramie County Fair comes to a close, there are a lot of great moments to look back on. One that always stands out is the Youth Livestock Sale.

Walking into the Event Center at Archer during the sale, it doesn’t take long to realize there is a lot more happening than animals being bought and sold. The barn is full of exhibitors and their families, buyers are visiting and preparing to bid, and young people are getting ready for a moment they have worked toward for much of the year.

For them, the livestock sale is really the final chapter of a much longer story.

Long before the fairgrounds filled up, these young people were feeding animals, cleaning pens, working with them, learning how to care for them properly and accepting the responsibility that comes with a livestock project. There were early mornings and late evenings, good days and probably some days when things didn’t go according to plan.

That is part of the experience.

Programs like 4-H and FFA give young people an opportunity to learn about agriculture, but the lessons go well beyond livestock. Responsibility, patience, hard work, financial decisions and seeing a project through from beginning to end are lessons that will stay with them long after this year’s fair.

The livestock sale allows the rest of us to recognize that work.

One of the things that stood out to me this year was the amount of community support in the barn. Local businesses, ranchers, families and individual community members showed up ready to bid and support these exhibitors.

And the support was more than something you could feel. Before the sale was even complete, the running total had already surpassed $1 million.

That is an impressive number, but what it represents is even more important. Behind those dollars are people and businesses choosing to invest in young people who spent months working toward that day.

When a buyer purchases an animal at the livestock sale, that investment reaches beyond the animal in the ring. It tells a young person that the work they put in mattered and that their community is willing to stand behind them.

There is also another side of the fair that deserves recognition — the work most people never see.

An event the size of the Laramie County Fair doesn’t simply appear when the gates open.

Our Laramie County Events staff works throughout the year preparing for fair week and then puts in some very long days once it arrives. Volunteers, 4-H and FFA leaders, parents and families contribute countless hours of their own to help exhibitors reach the show ring and ultimately the livestock sale.

Our County IT staff also plays an important role behind the scenes. They put together the technology used during the livestock sale, including the large video screen overlooking the sale area. Buyers and spectators throughout the barn can get a better view of what is happening in the ring while also seeing information related to the sale.

When everything works the way it is supposed to, it can be easy to overlook how many people worked to make it happen.

The kids and their animals deservedly get the spotlight. Behind them, however, is an entire network of parents, families, volunteers, leaders, buyers, businesses and county employees who helped them reach that moment.

That may be one of the best things about the Laramie County Fair.

It gives us a chance to celebrate agriculture, but it also gives us a chance to see what happens when a community invests its time, resources and encouragement in its young people.

Congratulations to every exhibitor who participated in this year’s fair. Whether you walked away with a ribbon, sold an animal, reached a personal goal or learned something you will do differently next year, you accomplished something worth being proud of.

And to everyone who volunteered, worked behind the scenes, raised a hand to bid or otherwise supported these young people along the way — thank you.

The livestock may have left the fairgrounds, but the lessons, relationships and memories made there will last a whole lot longer.