GILROY
– Wearing manure-splattered jeans and her hair hastily pulled
back in a ponytail, Ashley Fortino, 16, said the Future Farmers of
America transformed her from a city girl to a country girl. She
never imagined one day she would be raising a steer and a pig,
having grown up in a residential part of t
own.
GILROY – Wearing manure-splattered jeans and her hair hastily pulled back in a ponytail, Ashley Fortino, 16, said the Future Farmers of America transformed her from a city girl to a country girl. She never imagined one day she would be raising a steer and a pig, having grown up in a residential part of town.
Fortino and many of the other FFA students spend more than 20 hours a week grooming, feeding and training their animals, which is equivalent to the time other teenagers spend at a part-time job – only these animal lovers work for free.
“These animals are like my kids,” Fortino said. “It’s not like having a backyard pet like a cat or dog – I am out at the farm at least twice a day working with them.”
She and 30 other students ironed their white-collared shirts, wore their recognizable, striking blue jackets and brought their animals to the Santa Clara County Fair Tuesday – although the fair crowds won’t arrive until Friday. For them and for local 4-H members, this is the biggest show of the year.
Teacher Heather Nolan said her FFA students have been at the farm, located on north Kern Avenue, at least once a day to feed their animals, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they have showmanship practice.
Jesse Pires, 16, is going into his fourth year with FFA and said there is tons of work beyond caring for his two pigs, Itchie and Scratchie.
“We have to paint GHS on all our boards and shovels and we make decorations for our pens,” he said. “It used to be a little competition between the local chapters but now we just do it for fun.”
Instead of making the drive up to San Jose every day, Pires and his family brought a camper and are living at the fairgrounds this week.
In the past, Gilroy has held a reputation for having outstanding pigs and showmanship, and Pires and fellow classmates are working just as hard this year to keep their good name.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time with my pigs, keeping them as lean as possible,” Pires said. “I have also tried to train them to be people friendly and pig friendly so they don’t get out in the arena and go crazy.”
Now going into her senior year, Fortino is a veteran fair shower.
“When you are showing for showmanship, you have to keep eye contact with the judges,” she said. “Sometimes your pig will wander away from you, and you will have no clue. It can be very stressful.”
Some students are judged solely on their animals’ looks, demeanor and behavior, and others who enter the showmanship section are judged not on their animals but how they show them. The most important part to the showmanship competition is keeping eye contact with the judge at all times. After the judges have selected their winners, they are them honored at an awards ceremony.
“The kids are really excited,” Nolan said. “They have put a lot of hard work into their animals, and I know they’re looking forward to showing them,” she said.
After the showing, the awards and their last helping of fair food, the students will say good-bye to some of the animals they have worked with for months as they head to auction. This is when thousands of people who attend the fair are shown the animals and bid on them. The animals are then sent to the slaughterhouse and the highest bidder receives the high-quality meat.
“It’s not sad for me to see my pig go, because it is part of the agriculture lifestyle,” Pires said. “But I know some people do get kind of sad about it.”
Nolan recently left her former job at Fraizer Mountain High School in Southern California to take over the job as head agriculture teacher and program advisor at Gilroy High School.
Members of the community who wish to support the Gilroy FFA and 4-H can attend the Santa Clara County Fair for free. The students showing sheep are at the livestock arena today at 9 a.m. Students showing steers will take over on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the beef tent.
Entertainment will begin Friday with Dick Brights SRO, followed by the country tunes of Pat Green on Saturday and the Midnighters on Sunday. Rides also begin Friday. An individual ride ticket will cost 85 cents, and 80 tickets can be purchased for $50.
2003 County Fair
Fairfest 2003
When: Daily: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday to Sunday
Where: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds , 344 Tully Road, San Jose
How much: Free, parking is $10
Livestock Auction and Sale
When: 9 a.m., Monday
Where: Livestock Pavilion
