Louisa County Fair wraps up Saturday

The final day of the Louisa County Fair was filled with rapid-fire auctioneering and bidding spectators in a sale of the livestock shown throughout the week.

While cloudy skies brought rain over the fair for the early morning, the rain cleared by the time the sale began.

The Community Foundation of Louisa County was set up in the morning serving burritos, fruit, coffee and juice for breakfast.

The foundation gives grants to local nonprofits through the Endow Iowa fund and has given more than $6 million to serve the county since it was formed, Director Paula Buckman said.

She said the Community Foundation started serving breakfast at the fair two years ago but didn’t last year because of COVID-19.

“We're glad to be back here doing this again,” she said. “Because it's something we can do to give back to the Louisa County Fair and hopefully spread the word about giving back to the community.”

Pigs grunted and squealed in a nearby barn before the sale as their handlers tended and brushed them and prepared to bring them to the sale barn. Sheep, cows and goats were also housed around the fairgrounds.

Caiden Ball was bringing his two pigs to sale, which had won multiple awards at the seine show earlier in the week. They were named the champion market pair, and one was named the reserve champion market barrow while the other was the champion production pig.

A member of 4-H, Ball said he liked raising and showing pigs because they can learn quickly, and he said he enjoys sharing his hobby with the community as a part of 4-H.

“We spread how well our animals are taken care of with the community, and how we can supply the community with pork products and chicken products and other stuff,” he said.

Dozens of people gathered at the sale barn on the fairgrounds for the sale. The animals’ owners walked them around the barn, showing off the livestock for interested buyers. The livestock on sale were goats, poultry, rabbits, beef, pigs and sheep.

Victoria Howell, 16, who showed her cow this week and brought it to the sale, has a family history in 4-H. Her mom is her club’s leader, and her grandmother was the club leader before that.

Howell also showed pigs at the fair and won the herdsmanship award for her pigs, which recognized her for keeping the animals and their pens clean and their food and water full.

Bringing animals to the fair is the result of a lot of hard work, and Howell said it’s an emotional experience to part with them and send them off.

“It’s very emotional,” she said. “It’s just hard because I’ve been with him for so long.”