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 Photo Niis Bue Dillon Brown, 6, finds the way to beat the heat Saturday at the Castle Rock Fair is to slurp a helping of ice cream. |
Ribbons of Heat
Tuesday, July 27, 2004 7:42 AM PDT
By Niis Bue
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E-mail this articleCASTLE ROCK --- Leave it to a 6-year-old to find what looked like the most refreshing way of managing a sizzling Saturday.
In early afternoon at the Castle Rock 4-H Fair, with the temperature hovering at about 95 degrees, Dillon Brown of Castle Rock kicked back in a comfortable wooden chair in the shade of the barn entryway and refreshed himself with bubble gum ice cream.
Weighing in at a slight 60 pounds, himself, Dillon handles a hefty 1,200-pound polled Hereford named Mr. T, a joint 4-H project with his brother Tyler, 9.
Meanwhil, at the horse arena, there was no cooling rain in sight but colorful umbrellas in a variety of shapes and sizes shaded a small group of fans from the hot sun as they watched young riders compete in timed events.
Others set up their chairs in the shade of a stand of trees or sat at picnic benches under covered shelters.
Fair manager Yvonne Knuth said attendance was down for the three-day fair, most likely due to the heat, but people did come out at night. Attendance figures for this year were 2,004 fair-goers, down from 2,836 in 2003.
"I wouldn't have been here if it was that hot, unless I had to," she said Monday, especially mentioning Friday's scorcher.
Knuth said she brought in 84 pounds of ice Friday morning for the concession stand and the rabbits. "It was gone in four hours," she said.
Youth showmanship and other events ran two hours later than scheduled that day, Knuth said. "We had to keep those animals cool," she said.
Kids showing their cats Saturday ignored the heat as they managed their pets before the judge's careful eye.
"I'm having a good year: I've accomplished all my goals," Destani McNay, 9, said, after winning a grand champion ribbon in the junior division with her cat, Patches. The Silver Lake 4-H Club member also won grand champion in rabbit showmanship.
Not all of her goals were associated with 4-H activities. Destani said she won a school spelling bee and sold 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies earlier in the year. "I haven't won the million-dollar lottery, not yet; but I'm planning to," she said.
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