New Jersey State Fair® - Worldnow

New Jersey Sunday Herald, July 31, 2011 New Jersey State Fair/Sussex County Farm & Horse Show Page 19
Open Beef Show celebrates 25th year
This year is the 25th year of the
Open Beef Show of The New Jersey
State Fair/ Sussex County Farm &
Horse Show. The exhibitors hail
from Sussex County, other parts of
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
and Virginia. Many of the animals
appearing at the fair are shown at
regional and national shows as well.
This year’s show begins of Friday,
Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. with the obstacle
course in the livestock show
arena. This show involves the
exhibitors walking their animal
through a course with obstacles
such as bales of hay, logs to travel
over and between, in and out of a
livestock trailer and into a blocking
shoot.
On Saturday, Aug. 6, the show
begins at 9 a.m. in the livestock
show arena. The show will feature
Herefords, Angus, Red Angus,
Simmental and other breeds. The
culmination of the show will be the
selection of Supreme Champion
Bull, Cow/Calf and Heifer.
On Sunday, Aug.7, the show begins
at 9 a.m. with the Showmanship
classes. Exhibitors will be judged on
how well they lead and work with
their animals and their knowledge
of the beef industry. Following these
classes will be the Market Steer
classes.
The beef cattle will be on display
from noon on Friday, Aug. 5 until 3
p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7 in the livestock
barns.
Love the fair? Then read all about it
There is a whole cornucopia
of books about farm
animals and fairs for parents
to read before a visit-
to set the scene, or after
attending- to recall good
times. These are some
that are available.
•T wo books that address
the fairgoing experience
are “Night at the Fair” by
Donald Crews and “A
Fabulous Fair Alphabet”
by Debra Frasier. Both
authors also illustrate
their books.
“Night at the
Fair”highlights in little
text the experiences in
attending a fair in the evening-
games and prizes,
food, rides and lights. The
background of the illustrations
is black to emphasize
the night setting.
Young children will enjoy
the simple story and the
two page spread pictures.
Crews’ best known work
is “Bigmama’s.”
Frasier spent lots of
time at the Minnesota
State Fair. In viewing her
photographs after one
yearly visit, she was
struck by the unique lettering
of the midway
signs, and returned the
following year to photograph
just lettering.
From ‘arena’ to ‘zucchini’,
Frasier’s bright pages
highlight the parts of a fair
in alphabetical order. The
inside covers consist of
photos from the Minnesota
State Fair. Frasier’s best
known work is “On the
Day You Were Born.”
• The Small Animal
Building on the fairgrounds
is filled to the rafters
with poultry of every
size and shape. In “Big
Chickens Fly the Coop”
by Leslie Helakoski, four
chickens have always
wanted to visit the farmhouse
and so they start
the nerve-wracking trek
across the farmyard. The
old favorite, “The Little
Red Hen”, ties together
the Small Animal Building
with the baking competition.
Jerry Pinkney’s version
contains lush illustrations,
with the names of
the different animals colorcoded
in the text.
• Gail Gibbons is well
known for her non-fiction
books for children on a
wide variety of topics.
Her paperback books
“Farming”, “Corn”, “The
Milk Makers”and “The
Honey Makers” all provide
a lot of facts for children
accompanied by
illustrations, maps, diagrams
and charts.
• Alphabet books can be
appreciated by children of
all ages. Prolific author/
illustrator Patricia
Polacco has produced “G
is for Goat.” Cavorting
through the alphabet is a
group of goats not unlike
the family that lives at
Polacco’s home.
• Commissioned by the
Vermont Board of
Education to depict the
letters of the alphabet in a
way children would find
familiar, professional
printmaker and former
teacher Mary Azarian created
“The Farmer’s
Alphabet” with blackand-white
block print
illustrations.
They show common
farm-related words such
as barn, ax and maple
syrup. The only color in
the illustrations is the
upper and lower case letters,
and the word(s) on
each page.
Azarian followed this
book with “A Gardener’s
Alphabet” containing
color prints and words
such as compost, manure
and prune.
• Two great read-aloud
novels about fairs and
agriculture could also be
independently read by
older students. “Farmer
Boy” by Laura Ingalls
Wilder, tells the story of
her husband Almanzo
Wilder’s childhood on a
New York State farm. E.B.
White’s masterpiece,
“Charlotte’s Web”,
addresses issues of friendship,
loss and the circle of
life with a farm and fair
background.
This book list has been
provided by The
Agricultural Learning
Center at the Fairgrounds.
Herald File Photo
Maiya Gibbs of Andover waits with “Tibet” for the
Intermediate Showmanship Class of the 4-H Dairy Show.
Tibet was selected as reserve junior champion earlier in
the day. Animal shows are held daily at the fair.