43rd Annual Ramona Junior Fair kicks off 10 days of 4-H, FFA with dog show on Saturday
With nearly 300 exhibitors in the 43rd Annual Ramona Junior Fair, participants, bidders and visitors anticipate 10 days of shows, showmanship and competition as area 4-H’ers and FFA members gather “Under the Big Top with the Livestock.”
All activities except the horse show will be at the Ramona Junior Fairgrounds, 431 Aqua Lane, from July 26 through Aug. 3. The horse show will be at Mountain Valley Ranch, 842 Highway 78, Sunday, July 27, at 2 p.m.
The unofficial count of exhibitors was 296 this week, up from 225 last year, reported Crissy Tobiason, former 4-H’er and Ramona Junior Fair Board member.
The unofficial line-up of entries shows 94 market swine, 27 market beef, six market veal, 38 market sheep, 25 breeding sheep, 42 dairy goats, 76 breeding boar goats, 28 pygmy goats, 32 dairy cattle, three turkeys, five chicken meat pens, three rabbit meat pens, 82 breeding rabbits, 57 breeding poultry, 24 breeding cavies, 14 dog show entries, 10 horse show exhibitors, 210 home economics entries and 10 llama/alpaca exhibitors.
Events start Saturday with the dog show at 9 a.m. and the rabbit/cavy show at 3 p.m.
In addition to Ramona, groups from Julian, Poway, Escondido, San Marcos, Valley Center, Santa Ysabel, Lakeside and other East County communities will participate.
Home ec entries will arrive between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday in the Home Ec Building.
Sunday morning is reserved for the dairy goat, pygmy goat, angora goat and wool breed show. The llama/alpaca exposition show will start at 11.
Monday is camping, display and tack move-in day. Livestock move-in and weigh-in will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with opening ceremonies at 8:30 p.m.
July 30-31 and Aug. 1 are set aside for animal shows and showmanship.
Auction Day, the highlight of the junior fair, will be Saturday, Aug. 2. Buyer check-in will begin at 11 a.m., and the livestock auction will begin with swine at 1 p.m.
For details about the fair, see ramonajuniorfair.com.
—Maureen Robertson
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