PREPARING FOR SEMO FAIR COMPETITION

Sarah Schulte tied exhibitor tags to the jams, jellies and pickles she will be entering in the SEMO District Fair.

Preparing for September fair competition can mean tending to livestock on an icy winter night or weeding a garden on a sultry summer morning.

With hundreds of entry categories in the SEMO District Fair Sunday through Sept. 16, the possibilities for participation seem endless. Likewise, the possibilities for preparation are just as varied.

Cliff Illers found a category he enjoys a few years back. He, his parents, Greg and Linda Illers, and his younger brother Clay raise sheep. The family resides between Cape Girardeau and Gordonville.

At 13, Cliff has several years of experience in tending and showing animals at the fair, and he's sharing that knowledge with his younger brother. The boys will each show two sheep in the 4-H division.

"He's catching on," Cliff Illers said of Clay. The older brother remembers how it felt to be a first-timer in the ring. "The first year when I showed pigs I was pretty scared," he said. But anymore, Cliff said, he enjoys the competition. Nevertheless, as the fair draws near, the excitement builds.

"It's a lot of responsibility for them," Linda Illers said. The brothers shoulder much of the care of the sheep not only at fair time but throughout the year. Clay even handles vaccinations. "When they lamb in February it's cold, and they both go up there and sit with them," the Illers brothers' mom said.

As the fair inches weeks and then days closer, time spent with the animals typically increases. Cliff said last week that his sheep weren't quite ready to show. "It's going to take the next few days to get it done," he said.

Like Cliff and Clay, Andy Cook began showing livestock in the SEMO District Fair before he was 10. A senior in high school, Cook has participated in the fair every year since. But he is quick to point out that his education continues.

"I'm still learning things," he said. Once the animals are at the fair, "you've got to wash them and clip their hair, keep their stalls neat, keep them neat and clean, walk them around and care for them. I think they've got it better than we do," he said, laughing.

However, just getting to the point to show is a long road, he explained. "It depends on the animals," Cook said. "They're like people: They all have different personalities. Some, you can work months and months and they're still not ready." On the other hand, he said, "Some animals will surprise you."

Cook, the son of Mike and Nancy Cook, plans to show seven head of cattle -- each a registered, pure-bred polled Hereford -- in FFA competition. He will also show several head of cattle for his family's farm in the open division. The family resides near Burfordville.

Traveling to fairs and showing livestock have become a family tradition with the Cooks. Andy has participated in polled Hereford junior national competition and in many other fairs.

Taking in the fairs, Nancy Cook said, has been a family affair. "We've enjoyed going together," she said.

"I've got to where I don't care what place I get; I just like to go and show," Andy Cook said. "It's just the satisfaction of going in the ring and exhibiting my animals." Plus, he said, "I like helping the kids with the 4-H steers. It gives me a sense of happiness when I see these kids out there."

That attitude of sharing and helping others and the enjoyment of friendly competition are a big part of the fair, said David Wells, superintendent of the FFA division.

While the fair has grown and evolved through the years, offering more ways for people to enjoy themselves, the traditions live on. "People are always swapping ideas, anywhere from feeding methods to recipes," Wells said.

Sarah Schulte will likely be asked to share a few recipes this year. She'll be entering jams, jellies, preserves, pies, breads, cookies, even salsa, pickles, relishes and spaghetti sauce, just to name a few items.

"I'm all ready up to my baked goods," she said last week. "I will start that nearer to the fair."

Taking such tasty goods to the fair is tradition for Schulte, the mother of five and a grandmother. "My mother used to take things to the fair, and I kind of got started that way," she said. "When the kids were little, they did a lot of 4-H and I worked with them."

Schulte, who resides near Jackson, said it's not the competition that moves her to prepare for the fair, it's mostly the enjoyment of the process. "I enjoy cooking for a lot once in a while," she said.

"If I win a ribbon, fine," she said. But the best part, she said, is a nice-looking entry and the pride that can be taken in that accomplishment.