W-burg Farm Show Completes Another Year

Youth exhibiting livestock at the 2024 Williamsburg Community Farm Show experienced another successful show and sale during last week's festivities.

With over 100 livestock animals filling the barns to max capacity and seventy youth ages 4-21 showing livestock, this year showcased the highest participation in the history of the Farm Show.

Angelique Walason, Farm Show secretary, shared that the simplicity of the event is what draws so many participants from other counties.

"We had youth in the barns from Blair, Bedford, and Huntingdon counties," she said. "It's a more relaxed atmosphere, and we don't require passes for parking or anything like that. The kids are able to just enjoy their time here."

The youth exhibitors shared that same sentiment.

"I really like showing here at the Farm Show - It's not as competitive as some other shows I've done, and I've gotten to spend a lot of time enjoying myself and making new friends," said Lily Kammerer, who exhibited two market goat projects along with a pillowcase sewing project, crops like hay and beans, and corn stalks. "My favorite part of the farm show was being able to have time to enjoy the fair. My favorite fair food was at the fire company kitchen in the community center."

Kammerer's brother, Will, also showed two market goat projects as well as a dairy beef.

"I like to show the dairy beef because they are easier to set up than goats," he said, referring to the way that the showmen place the feet and the body of their animal to show off its muscling and best physical characteristics.

Lily and Will exhibited goats that were born on their family's farm, so they were a part of their daily care from day one.

Will's dairy beef calf was purchased from Penn England Farm, which is only a few miles from the Farm Show grounds. For parents Andy and Krista Kammerer, they have seen a multitude of benefits from their kids exhibiting livestock projects.

"It's teaching them to be responsible – that animal is relying on them to feed it, water it, and care for it," Krista Kammerer said. "Mom and dad don't do it for you. From that comes a strong work ethic that we get to see them develop, and that's going to serve them well in the future when they're adults and working,"

Lily celebrated her ninth birthday on Tuesday, the same day that the livestock show was held. She received a very prestigious birthday present – winning Reserve Grand Champion with "Brownie", her market goat.

"We love the sense of community at the Williamsburg Farm Show," Krista said. "Lily brought cupcakes in to share with the other kids during the show, and Will spent a lot of his time making friends playing in the big dirt pile beside the barn. Our kids have had such a good experience."

While the success of ever-increasing animal numbers and more youth participation is very exciting, it also brings about its own set of challenges.

"We really need additional space to accommodate more animals and more kids," said Walason. "Our goal for next year is to have a new show ring constructed. This will allow us to utilize the current show ring footprint to house more livestock and dairy animals. We'd really like to have the construction completed in the spring so that we can host more events between now and next year's farm show."

The ground for the new show ring has been cleared and posts have been donated, but additional funds are needed to purchase trusses and other supplies.

"Quite a few of our youth exhibitors donated proceeds from the sale of their animals to our building fund, and that totaled $3,105.00 which is a great contribution," Walason said. Among those youth exhibitors who donated to the fund were Lily and Will Kammerer. "They donated $25 from each of their animals to go toward the new show ring. They are investing in the future of the Farm Show," shared Krista.

Plans are already in the works for the 2025 Williamsburg Community Farm Show by both exhibitors and the Farm Show board. For Lily, she'd like to try her hand at a new sewing project for next year as well as growing chestnuts and the tallest corn stalk.

For the board, the Farm Show is a year in the making – fundraising, planning contests, booking entertainment and food vendors, and working out all the small details takes a lot of work. Walason attributes the success of this year's event to the community as well as the Farm Show board and volunteers.

"We were happy to have a great turnout, especially Thursday and Friday night," she said. "Thank you to the community for coming out and supporting all the vendors and the amusement rides. We don't make any money off the rides, but we did our best to listen to the feedback we received in the past and brought the carnival attractions back."

Big successes for this year's Farm Show included the new Power Wheels Races for kids and the baked goods auction on Monday evening. "We'll be looking at adding another age category for the Power Wheels Race next year, and our baked goods auction raised $575.00. That money will go toward the expense of sending our Farm Show Queen to the state Fair Queen Contest in Hershey in January. A huge thank-you goes out to our board and volunteers. It takes a lot of work to make the Farm Show happen, and we can always use more help!"

Anyone interested in contributing to the Youth Livestock Show Ring Building Project or serving as a volunteer for the Farm Show is encouraged to contact Walason at 814-937-1446.