For many visitors, the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair means exciting rides, challenging games and down-home food. But inside the barns, the fair also offers an opportunity to get up close with farm animals and learn more about agriculture.
Old McDonald’s Barn
At Old McDonald’s Barn, volunteers spend the week introducing visitors to animals they may not normally see up close.
“Old McDonald’s barn is kind of an eclectic group of farm animals that you wouldn’t typically see in the forage barns on the rest of the fairgrounds,” said Kaitlyn Drew, an Old McDonald’s Barn volunteer. “These animals come from all over Montgomery County and even sometimes out of the state to be displayed here, at the Montgomery County Fair.”
Drew has volunteered at the fair for about a decade. Her love of animals, she said, helped lead her to agriculture and gave her a chance to share that passion with the community.
“I am a huge animal lover,” Drew said. “I’ve always been really attached to animals. And I’ve loved learning about the process of agriculture. So this kind of felt like a way for me to bring my interests into the community I love.”
Well Timed Events
Every year the Fair works with farmers to host some special events for visitors: the birth of a calf.
The newborn becomes one of the most memorable moments of the fair, giving visitors a rare glimpse at new life on a farm.
Farming Matters
But the lessons at the fair extend beyond the animals. Drew said visitors often arrive with questions, creating opportunities to talk about farming and where food comes from.
“Farming is incredibly important. I mean, it’s the main way that we get food,” Drew said. “It’s how we get food in our grocery stores. It’s our farmers markets. Not to mention that it’s a lot of people’s way of life.”
4-H Stories
That connection to agriculture starts young. Sixteen-year-old Leila Steele has been involved in 4-H for eight years. This year, she brought her dog, Isabella, to compete and took home two major awards.
“The grand champion ribbon is for agility,” Steele said. “And so that’s like the obstacle course one. And that was really, really fun to do.”
She also earned a reserve champion award in obedience.
For cattle exhibitor Darren Santelle, the connection to the fair goes back even further. He has attended the fair since he was a child.
“I’ve been at this fair since I was a little kid, but I’ve been exhibiting cattle for, like, 20 years here,” Santelle said.
Santelle said the fair gives the public an opportunity to learn about an industry they may not encounter in their everyday lives.
“A lot of the public has never even seen a cow before,” he said. “So it’s really interesting when they come into the fair and come into the barns and ask us questions, watch us milk the cows. It helps the dairy industry.”
From young 4-H exhibitors and longtime cattle exhibitors to a newborn calf, the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair gives visitors a chance to see agriculture up close and perhaps learn something new along the way.
The Fair is owned and operated by the Montgomery County Agricultural Center (MCAC). They also own the 62-acre fairgrounds. Founded in 1949 the Fair operates primarily on volunteers.
