Niagara County Fair opens with plenty of action
More than 1,000 pay $7 to sample Farm City Breakfast
LOCKPORT — Neither pouring rain, nor wind nor heat apparently could prevent Courtney A. Luckman’s pigs from rolling up four livestock championships Wednesday morning on the opening day of the Niagara County Fair.
More than 1,000 paying customers showed up for the inaugural Farm City Breakfast, which traditionally kicks off the fair each year. It featured a keynote speech from John K. Hall, a member of the Hall Apple Farm family, on the history of the Niagara County Fair.
“We sold out,” one fair worker said, noting tickets for the kickoff meal were $7 apiece for scrambled eggs, sausage, sweet rolls, hash browns, juice and coffee.
After breakfast, the 4-H Swine Show started and 13-year-old Courtney, of Gasport, a graduate of Barker Middle School, marched in with seven of her pigs and walked off with four first-place finishes and a second- place finish well before noon.
Her Yorkshire pig Dory helped her win the Junior Showmanship championship by moving everywhere and anywhere Courtney signaled her to while making sure the judge could get a good view of her performance.
“Dory is very intelligent,” Courtney noted, and, from what the crowd could see, very obedient.
Courtney also won the January Spring Gilt championship with her pig Peach and the February Spring Gilt championship with Dory, plus she took first in the Champion Breeding Hog category.
Courtney also has entered three cows and a steer and 14 rabbits she raised herself in various competitions.
Meanwhile, on the north end of the fairgrounds, a large number of teenage girls were competing in English horse riding and jumping competitions.
Niagara-Wheatfield High School senior Erin Manning, 17, was buzzing around near her horse, Foxes Eyeliner, preparing to compete, while Grand Island’s Lisa Hullenmaier took first place in the Senior English Showmanship category, moving her horse adroitly in patterns for the judges.
The Junior English Showmanship category was won by Stephanie Simicki of Lockport. Samantha Wagner of Ransomville took the Beginner Showmanship competition.
Despite the rain, the early English jumping events were impressive as Danielle Moon of Cambria and her horse took the Low Hunter Over Fence competition. Grand Island’s Shannon Becker took first place with her horse in both the Children Hunter Over Fences and the Novice Equestrian over Fences categories.
Meanwhile Sarah Carpenter, 15, a Barker High School sophomore and winner of the school’s $500 Clifford Peacock scholarship that is given to a female student under age 16 for her work with animals, was preparing her black Minirex rabbit Midnight to compete. Midnight won for wearing the best costume at last year’s fair. “He was dressed like Cupid,” Sarah said.
Another Barker High School student, Deanna Platt, will be at the fair on Friday to participate in competition with Fonzy Harry Goomer Thing, her horse. Deanna and Courtney have each won a Peacock scholarship for their work with animals as well. Deanna won in 2007 and Courtney in 2006.
The fair will last through 5 p. m. Sunday and will feature everything from livestock competitions to carnival rides to all kinds of food and midway games, as well as various displays and demonstrations.
Courtney will have the opportunity to win a lot more livestock competitions by the time the week is over because she spends so much time caring for and working with her animals. She also competes with some of them at fairs in Louisville, Ky., Indianapolis, Harrisburg, Pa., and at the New York State Fair in Syracuse and has done well.
“I spend more than eight hours with them on Saturdays and about five hours on Sundays,” Courtney said. “I try to spend 15 to 20 minutes every day working [with each pig I’m competing with] . . . I’m hoping to do really well.
“I have a lot of animals, and I try to put them into different classes where I think I’ll have a good chance of winning something,” she said.
Her steer Aussie should have a chance to take first place in the Bred by Exhibitor category because he was born on her farm and has been raised by her, she explained. She said she also has hopes for her rabbit buck, Thorn, a Dutch bunny who took the grand championship prize in a recent contest here in Niagara County.
Courtney has a lot of experience working with and raising animals. “I grew up on a farm and kind of got to like raising livestock. I like animals, and I’ve been showing them for nine years. Even when I was three I was always out in the barns with the pigs. I remember that,” she said.
