Lancer Spotlight 9/22/22: Linganore FFA at the Frederick Fair
September 22, 2022
On September 16, The Great Frederick Fair started in downtown Frederick. The fair showcases what Frederick county has to offer, including produce, great food and livestock.
As part of the event, Linganore student and Future Farmers of America (FFA) member Sierra Howell showed her pigs in the swine show on September 18.
“I show crossbred market hogs at the front. I raise my livestock, and then I feed them and work with them until I get to enter them into the Frederick fair to show in the fitting and showing showmanship class and the market hog showmanship class,” said Howell.
The Frederick Fair goes back generations and has been a tradition for many families in Frederick county and at Linganore, including Howell’s family.
“My mom and grandfather both showed in the Johnstown 4 H club at the Frederick Fair. They showed dairy; however, I don’t have dairy cows. I don’t have goats either, so I figured I would get into the sheep and swine spectrum of the Frederick Fair, so we started getting into pigs and they’re super easy and fun stuff. I just enjoy it,” Howell said.
Despite enjoying showing in the Frederick Fair as other generations of her family have done, Howell concedes there are challenges, even in things that we love.
“It can be stressful [at] times because there are constantly people running around and trying to get to the next place at the right time, but overall everyone supports everyone in the organization…it’s super fun to see how younger kids get to show their animals and use the knowledge that you give them to apply [to] their experiences,” Howell said.
Recently, Howell won the Eastern States Expedition in Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as first prize in the FFA Creed Competition. Howell explains her experience with the Creed Competition as fun yet stressful.
It requires “a five-paragraph essay-like speech that you memorize, and then you recite it to the judges and then they ask you a bunch of questions…a lot of them are pertaining to agriculture. But, some of them don’t even have to be, and your answers to the questions have to be like mini speeches themselves. But, it’s on the spot, so it’s fun [yet] stressful”
On Saturday, September 24, Howell will be selling her pig at the Frederick Fair Livestock Sale at noon.
The Great Frederick Fair runs until September 24. Buy tickets online here.
