Volunteers keep show moving

All week at the Show Arena at Jay County Fairgrounds, the focus is on the 4-H members and their animals. There are scores of others, though, who help make the fair run smoothly.
Parents, siblings and friends help with grooming — of both the animals and the 4-Hers.
Judges not only choose the winners, but also advise all participants on how they can improve for the coming years.
And the long list of volunteers includes those whose voices direct the activities of the day. At the dairy steer and feeder show Wednesday, the duo standing atop the platform with the microphone was Kerra Armstrong and Debbie Langenkamp.
 “We just do the announcing,” said Armstrong, downplaying their role.
But those showing their cows Wednesday noted the importance of the work.
“I think they do a really good job,” said Lyla Muhlenkamp, who showed the grand champion. “They keep everyone in line and keep it really organized for all of us 4-Hers.”
Troy Homan, a Jay County High Schoool senior, said having quality people in those positions makes life easy on the 4-Hers.
“If they’re not good, then the show gets messed up,” he said.
Armstrong and Langenkamp essentially act as traffic cops during the show, coordinating with the many other volunteers to try to make sure all of the 4-H members are where the need to be at the right time.
For each class, they review the program to make sure they have the correct numbers for both the 4-Hers and their animals. Their goal is to keep up a good pace to ensure a quality show for all involved.
“We just want it to run timely and efficiently,” said Armstrong. “The quicker we do our job, the quicker they can get in there. The cows don’t like to stand for a long period of time. The longer we make them stand, the more they’re going to fight those kids. So the quicker we can be, the better off the kids are going to be in the show arena.”
The efforts from Langenkamp and Armstrong on Wednesday were part of a family affair.
Armstrong’s parents, Ron and LouAnne Zimmerman, and brother, Dustin, and Langenkamp’s husband, Roger, and children, Ashley and Matthew, were all among the volunteers as well. They helped the two signal callers check numbers, assisted in keeping the holding ring organized and nudged animals along when they were being less than cooperative in the arena.
That family atmosphere, both in terms of blood relations and lifelong friends made in the barns, is one of the things that keeps the volunteers coming back.
“I love 4-H,” said Langenkamp, a former 4-H leader whose five children were all 10-year members. “It teaches kids so much — leadership, responsibility. … I’ve got a grandson now that shows. I just can’t stay away from it.”
“It just teaches them to give back to their community,” added Armstrong, who was a 10-year member. “So many of us that have been 10-year members have come back, and now we’re starting to take some of the roles that our parents had. It’s a great feeling to see the kids that I showed with now have kids in 4-H.
“You don’t ever leave 4-H, ever.”[[In-content Ad]]