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34 Thursday, August 8, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com
http://www.advisor-chronicle.comwww.advisor-chronicle.com AD-VISOR & CHRONICLE - CALHOUN COUNTY FAIRAD-VISOR & CHRONICLE Saturday, August 10, 2024Saturday, June 8, 2024 15 15

Calhoun County Fair

175th

Aug.

11 - 17

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BY JOHN HENDLER

Hailey Sommers has been showing

animals at the Calhoun County Fair

since she was 3 years old. Over the

years, Hailey, 13, has shown cows,

goats and horses.

But she says her favorite animal to

show will be her 5-month-old goat,

Buddy, which she will be selling at

the Small Animal Auction on Aug.

“Along with the animals, I do a

variety of projects, including weld-

ing, drawing, educational exhibits

and panoramas, which is my favor-

ite,” said Hailey.

As she gets set to start eighth grade

at Marshall Middle School in a

couple of weeks, Hailey will be part

Gearing up for Fair Week

FFA AND 4-H MEMBER HAILEY SOMMERS IS ONE BUSY GIRL

of Marshall FFA for the second year.

She has been involved in 4-H since

she was 5.

While FFA and 4-H (and school)

take up a lot of Hailey’s time, she

also is an avid chess player (she

learned to play last winter, and her

favorite players are Magnus Carlsen

and Levy Rozman) and gymnast.

But once the calendar turns to

August, she is fully focused on the

fair.

“This is a very busy time, lead-

ing up to the fair,” said Hailey.

“Especially the week before when

we are fine-tuning the animals.”

Hailey walks her goats, horses and

cows daily as well as shaves and

brushes them to make sure they are

Hailey Sommers with her goat Buddy.

Hailey with her sisters Stacy, 3, and

Molly, 7, at the FFA Animal Tent.

ready for show.

“It’s an all-day responsibility,

every day,” she said, adding that she

also needs to make sure she has all

her projects completed in time.

During Fair Week, Hailey said she

will be at the fairgrounds every day.

“On Saturday (Aug. 10), I have

to do project judging, on the 11th

I have livestock judging and the

Goat Show is the 12th,” she said.

“Then, the 13th is the beef breeding

show, the 14th I have barn duty, the

15th is the Horse Show, Skillathon,

beef bidding and the Small Animal

Auction. The 16th is the Large

Animal Auction.”

Hailey will also be working in the

Miracle of Life Tent.

“We inform visitors about the hard

work it takes to raise animals and

answer general questions about the

variety of animals in the tent,” said

Hailey.

And she will also be helping out

her younger sisters Molly, 7, and

Stacy, 3, with their fair projects

and animals. Molly shows in the

Cloverbud class and Stacy shows in

the Peewee class.

With the animal auction just days

away, Hailey admits parting with

Buddy will be hard.

“I get kind of emotional knowing

my goat is about to be sold,” she

said. “So, I’ve been spending lots

of time visiting and hugging him and

talking with my friends and family to

distract myself.”

Mom Rayna Sommers said she is

proud of all her girls and the work

they put in.

“Fair and 4-H are a lot of hard

work, and it is stressful sometimes,”

said Rayna. “But when they succeed,

it’s worth the work. These life les-

sons set them up for a bright, suc-

cessful future. It gives them opportu-

nities to try new things and get out of

their comfort zones.”