There’s a first time for everything!  And for me, this week, it was participating in the Wayne County Junior 4-H Livestock Sale.

The livestock auction is the culmination of hard work by 4-H members in the raising of an animal and it is a wonderful, supportive atmosphere.

From the young women who staffed the auction registration, to the band of colorful auctioneers who moved the sale along and kept track of bids coming from all sides of large arena space at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, to the volunteers cooking and serving up a barbecue lunch for all registered bidders, to the assistants who kept track of the numbers on market animals and posted the name of businesses's and individual people who won the bidding wars, the auction was a well managed affair.

There’s much evidence of before-the-event organizing and categorizing, as a 19-page booklet is handed to each registered bidder. In it are pictures of the graduating seniors, the record price per pound for each year of the sale dating back to 1977, and the listing of each animal currently for sale, its weight, the 4-Her who raised it, and who their parents are.

(For those who are curious: in 1977, the record price per pound was $2.50, on a pig raised by Michael Wormuth and bought by Keystone Havestore Silo, Inc. and in 2017 the price a price per pound was $25 on a pig raised by Kayla Jones and purchased by Dirlam Bros. Lumber Co. Next year’s booklet will name Dirlam again as high bidder, a position they have held for 17 years.)

Of course, it’s generally the first pig, the Grand Champion Hog, that takes such a high per pound cost. The bulk of the other 236 pigs sold for anywhere from approximately $3 to $5 per pound, depending, among other things, on which 4-Her had hand-raised the animal.

Bidders, most from prominent area businesses, use the auction as a way of giving back to their customers and their employees. Companies like Narrowsburg Feed and Grain, Dirlam Bros, Cochecton Mills, Pioneer Construction, Leeward Construction, The Dime Bank, The Honesdale National Bank and Delaware Valley Farm and Garden are frequent bidders, often bidding against each other. 

Sometimes a 4-Her would show two hogs and the winning bid could determine whether they wanted the heavier or the lighter pig. Sometimes the second pig would go to the lesser bidder, or sometimes the process would begin again. Often the winning bidder would donate the animal back—to the food pantry, to Habitat for Humanity and, more popularly, to the scholarship fund. Those animals were auctioned off again at the end of the sale. The price per pound for these would range from $1.40 a pound to $3.

And the work of the sale does not end there, even after the last animal and potted plant have been sold. Upon checkout, those who have purchased an animal need to confirm to auction staff what butcher will be taking charge of the animal from there.  

There was much work in the barns still.

What strikes me as most wonderful about the sale is the community that gathers within its structure. All year, 4-Hers are guided by caring adults, learning how to take care of an animal and all of the other life lessons that come from that responsibility. The business community gathers to support these efforts. They are generous with the funds that they collectively give. (This year the auction raised well over $400,000, with over $30,000 going back into the scholarship fund!) And families, young and old, gather for this long-standing tradition.

And everyone is grateful.

Those receiving the complimentary lunch, which offered beef, pork, lamb or goat barbecue, homemade pickles and baked beans, chips, apples, and wonderful ice cream dixie cups, were delighted with the abundance – and the idea that if you wanted a second sandwich after the 5^th hour of the auction, you could have one.

Grateful 4-Hers came into the stands to thank all of the bidders. (They receive money from the sale of their animal to defray the costs of buying and raising it.)

Many company employees will be thankful for the gift of the meat. Area butchers and slaughterhouses are also supported.

This is a community activity that breeds community resilience. It is at the heart of rural farm life. It is a backbone of all that we hold dear.

What a first!

And, yeah, with Production Manager Amanda Reed’s assistance, we waited it out to the end and paid $1.40 per pound in support of the scholarship fund. Thanks to Josh Korb of Hickory Ridge Custom Cuts for helping this newbie maneuver through the processing of the pig, all of the 4-H staff who made this experience possible and to Brayden Maciejewski, member of the Calkins 4-H Club, who raised the hog. Congratulations to Chelsea Hill, Penn State Extension Educator who oversees it all.

For more about the 4-H program go to https://riverreporter.com/arts-leisure-currents-feature/wayne-county-fair

To read more about what it’s like to be a 4-Her, click here https://riverreporter.com/community-living-pets-pet-stories/what-are-those-4-h-barns-all-about

To read more about this year's event: https://www.facebook.com/groups/waynecountyjuniorlivestocksale/permalink/889737121212424/