What do the numbers 35,000; 300,000; and 1,300,000 have in common? I’ll give you the answer a little later.
For the last four days and the next four days I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with some of the finest youth in our state. In case you’re not up to date on what’s happening with today’s youth, the Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE) opened last Friday and thousands of young people and their families have flocked to the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City for the “world’s largest junior livestock show.”
Oklahoma is blessed with some of the best show pigs and even better show kids in the country. And Wednesday afternoon I watched the best of the best show their pigs. Several years ago, the OYE started a showmanship event where each county would submit the names of the best exhibitors in all the livestock projects and those county champions would compete in a statewide showmanship contest. Today more than 60 exhibitors in junior, intermediate, and senior age groups competed in the swine showmanship contest. As the judge worked with through the contest, he narrowed each age group down through a series of heats and interactions with the exhibitors until he finally arrived at the champion and reserve champion showers in each age group.
These were not the kids with the championship hogs. These were the championship kids. In a world where the day’s news tells us how bad our kids are, Wednesday I saw kids that I’m betting will never end up on the police blotter. They shook hands with one another. They congratulated the selected champions. Sure the majority were disappointed they did not win, but the simple fact is that everyone of these kids was a winner. They had already won their county contests just to qualify. On Friday, the champion showman from all the species will compete to see who the best overall showmen in the state are. The hog kids will show sheep and cattle. The cattle kids will show sheep and hogs. Everyone will show all the species. It is truly a spectacular event.
Friday also marks the start of the market animal shows for sheep, cattle and swine. The OYE will culminate with the coronation of the grand champions on Sunday evening. With a laser light show and a limousine ride into the arena and a rock-concert environment, the breed champions from all the species will take to the State Fair Arena floor to be recognized for their efforts.
And then the grand finale will happen Monday afternoon at the sale of champions in the Arena. Check out the OYE website at www.okyouthexpo.com and see the full schedule. The rest of this week provides a fabulous opportunity for everyone to see the best of Oklahoma. I encourage you to take advantage of it.
I grew up participating the youth livestock program. While I didn’t show hogs, my brothers and I traveled all across the state showing purebred and commercial heifers. The early mornings and late nights feeding, watering, brushing, exercising and working with our calves taught us responsibility. They taught us teamwork. Our projects taught us about life and death. They taught us where our food came from. They taught us about winning and losing. Today's kids are learning those same lessons.
Oh, what did those number have in common? They represent the investment the OYE and its sponsors will make in our youth this year. $35,000 is the amount of scholarships presented to gilt exhibitors in the past three days. $300,000 is the total amount of the scholarships that will be presented in all the species during the show. And $1,300,000 represents the total of all scholarships, premiums and sale receipts from the entire OYE. Again, it is a tremendous investment in a tremendous bunch of kids.
