The 2020 Gallatin County Livestock Show and the 2020 Kentucky State Fair is over. Looking back at what our Gallatin County 4-H youth accomplished is amazing!  They had their animals before COVID happened. Everything was shut down or postponed. But they did not give up. They continued go out to the barn to feed, train, and exercise their animals at least once a day.  They did this not knowing if they would be able to show or not. Finally in July things started opening up and they started go to as many shows as possible. Things were different at these shows; they had to wear a mask in the heat and humidity, there were no wash stations which meant they carried buckets and buckets of water, there were no stalls so they had to come up with a plan to take care of their animals in their trailers, but they made it work.

The Gallatin County Livestock Show was postponed for over a month. Twelve 4-H members stuck it out and showed their animals in July. Each child had to complete a record book and a video about the care, feed, and the anatomy of their animal.  I saw kids at our county show putting up gates and fans for each other; giving advice and encouragement, even though in the ring they are competing with each other. That is true dedication and leadership.

Four of our 4-H youth went on to the Kentucky State Fair this year. For the first time in the history of Gallatin County, one of our 4-H members, a junior in high school, won the Senior Class for Steer Showmanship. She also came in third in in Crossbred Market Class.  She also showed hogs and came in 5^th and 7^th.  She has shown livestock through Gallatin County 4-H since she was ten years old, and in 2017 she decided to take the show on the road, qualified for the Kentucky State Fair and has not looked back since. Another 4-Her, a first time livestock member, qualified for the Kentucky State Fair and came in 4^th in the Heavyweight Market Goat class. Her brother showed in the novice class. The last 4-H member who qualified for the Kentucky State Fair came in 7^th and 5^th in the Medium Lightweight and Heavyweight classes and 8^th out of 26^th in Showmanship.