Kansas State Fair marks a milestone for The Grand Drive
Next weekend, thousands will gather to see the premier livestock and youth exhibitors at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. It’s the “national championship” of livestock showing for Kansas 4-H and FFA members, and this year marks the celebration of its 25th anniversary!
What started as an idea from Jim and Darla Mosbarger, of Goodland, Kansas, has now grown into a tremendous opportunity for youth to showcase all of their hard work to the public.
High Plains Journal has been a longtime sponsor of the livestock showmanship winners at the Kansas State Fair. It’s been quite a few years ago, 15 to be exact, but I remember when I got to step onto the famous green shavings to receive the award from past HPJ publisher Tom Taylor. Little did I know at that time that the connections I made showing at the Kansas State Fair Grand Drive would ultimately help lead me to my position at HPJ. For stock show kids, the Kansas State Fair 4-H/FFA livestock shows are comparable to a state sport championship, where the best livestock, around the state, are represented. For many of these kids, showing livestock IS their sport.
Just like any other sport, there’s more to livestock showing than just the show. It’s about investing in the next generation and building the future leaders of America.
It’s about character building. Life doesn’t always go according to plan, and if an individual can learn at an early age to win with dignity and lose with grace, that’ll take them places.
It’s about family. Those backdrop memories are fun to add to the list, but it’s the memories in the barn, road trips to sales and friends who become family that they’ll reminisce the most.
It’s about “making the best better.” It doesn’t matter if you were last in your class or won the champion drive. There’s always room for improvement and another goal to achieve.
If you turn on the news today, you often wonder what the future will look like for our kids. If you’re ever worried about the future generation of America, just attend a livestock show, and you’ll have your faith restored. The competition is fierce, but the sportsmanship and enthusiasm you see exhibitors exemplify in and out of the show ring is what sets these individuals apart.
It’s families and friends coming together to develop young people into future leaders, movers and shakers, who will use those life skills learned at the end of a halter to make the world a better place.
It takes a lot of hard work, sweat, early mornings and late nights to make it to the green shavings, but the lessons learned and character developed make it all worth the time. I might be biased, but there’s no better place to raise your kids than in the stock show industry.
If you need something to do Sept. 7, I encourage you to make plans to attend the 25th Grand Drive in the Prairie Pavilion at 6 p.m. Come out and show your support to our youth in ag. From the entertainment to the judges’ inspirational speeches, you won’t be disappointed! The event will highlight scholarship winners, showmanship winners and breed winners of each species. Then, judges will make their final selection of the grand and reserve champion livestock winners. For more details or to learn about the show schedule, visit kansasstatefair.com.
Good luck to all of the 2024 exhibitors, and thank you to all of the volunteers, sponsors and community members who make this event possible.
Kylie Reiss can be reached at [email protected].
