The Fair Brings Hard Work, Fun to Area Youth
By Regina Elling

Anaya Tobiason's pigs, Cobalt and Lucky, decided to take a bath in the fountain in her front yard. Photo by Victoria Tobiason

Looking around as more than 50 youngsters and almost as many adults scrambled to string together some heavy tarps, Crissy Tobiason beamed with pride.

"Where else can you go and see this many kids working together with their families?" she asked. "And this isn't just for a night or a week - they will be up here working all month long."

And Tobiason, president of the Ramona Junior Fair, will be right alongside them. "Crissy, we need the information for the flyers." "Crissy, what do the kids need to be working on next?" "Crissy, where can I find...?"

Unfazed by the activity and the questions, Tobiason keeps the answers - and chores - coming.

"You can't believe how proud I am of these kids," she says. "They come up here three nights a week and work from six in the evening until after dark. And they don't complain at all."

Hannah Jones works at home with her steer, Estaban, in preparation for the Ramona Junior Livestock Fair. Photo by Keith Jones

Gail Martinez is both mother and grandmother to some of the fair exhibitors. Her youngest daughter, Amanda, 19, is showing a steer. Her older daughter, Paula, 20, is now a Ramona Wranglers leader. One grandson, Douglas Chavez, 11, will show a sheep and a hog. He has shown veal and Boer goats in the past, but says, "I wanted to try something new."

Her other grandson, Nicholas Moore, 13, is competing for the first time with a sheep and a pig.

"A lot of the adults here were in 4-H or FFA when they were young," she says. "They know how hard the work is, but this is such a great motivating force for the kids to do their best."

And the long hours? "Well, the kids got me up to be here on time to move bleachers Saturday morning," she says, laughing.

Hannah Jones, 16, Ramona Pisanos, will be showing an Angus steer. "I've been in 4-H for eight years," she says. "I have four brothers in high school, and my oldest brother is 25, and they all have shown."

Cody Bray takes his sheep over a homemade track each day in preparation for the fair competition. Photo by Lindsay Dreyer

Although she previously has shown swine (and her horse), she choose a steer this year, "because it's something new that I haven't done before."

Michael Studley, 16, will be showing a pig. He's been a part of the Ramona Stars 4-H for five years and also is involved in baseball and water polo. He has worked hard to take care of his animal, and hopes his pig is a champion. His 12-year-old stepbrother Kenny will be showing a pig and a sheep.

The best part of the fair for Studley? "Being here the whole week, and staying on the grounds, is really fun," he says.

Cody Bray, 18, has been competing at the fair with the Ramona Wranglers for the past four years. This will be his first year to show a lamb. "I'm hoping he is a champion," Bray says. "I take care of him, and take him for a run twice a day."

The best part of the fair for Bray is "raising the animal. But I really enjoy the competition."

After 15 years with the Ramona Wranglers, Lindsey Dreyer is enjoying her first year as an FFA leader.

"I get really sentimental when they do well," she says. "I cry a lot. I really love watching them progress. When they first get an animal, it grows and changes, and so do they."

Cindy Tarantino has also seen her family grow as a result of the fair. Her daughter Lane, 14, has been showing for the past four years, and her Angora goat, Belle, has been Grand Champion for each of those years. Lane plans to show Belle again this year, along with her dog, a champion beagle.

Her son Michael won't be competing this year, but her twin boys, Matthew and Nicholas, 8, will. "Matthew is showing a Black Bantam Silkie chicken this year, and Nicholas is showing a Buff Bantam Silkie and a Holland Lop rabbit," she says.

Taratino says: "The sense of community at the fair is just fantastic. The kids meet different people, make a tremendous amount of friends and learn something new all the time. There just isn't anywhere else like it."

Tobiason agrees. "These kids have put up tarps, built about 200 small animal pens, painted picnic tables, picked up trash and the work keeps coming. It won't be over till the fair is over.

"But talk about a family experience," she says. "It really brings the adults and kids together. No other group even comes close."