Fair brings county together through competition

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

The third week of July means one thing to Jayden Jorgensen above all else — show time.

It’s a date she doesn’t want to miss.

Whether it’s from Rockford, Rudd, Marble Rock, Floyd or Colwell — don’t forget about Nora Springs — young and old alike come to Charles City for the Floyd County Fair during the dog days of summer.

“I think a lot of people can agree that this is their favorite week of the year,” said Jorgensen. “I know it is for me. I look forward to it every year.”

Jorgensen, 17, will be a senior this fall at RRMR High School and is a member of the Rockford FFA and the Union Busy Bees 4H Club. She loves to catch up with old friends from around the area or do what a lot of Floyd County residents do at the fair ever year — chow down on good eats and take in as many shows as time allows.

But Jorgensen’s main passion is taking care of her animals and competing for top prizes, like the reserve champion she got with her pig last year in the market gilt swine category.

It’s not just swine that Jorgensen brings to the fair. She’ll show her calf, Lucky, this week. The calf is appropriately named as it was born on St. Patrick’s Day.

She doesn’t have a name for her pig.

Which begs the question, why no name for swine?

“Pigs all look the same,” laughed Jorgensen.

Jorgensen is a true veteran of the fair. She’s been competing since the fourth grade when she was a Clover Kid. Her almost 10 years of experience has made her a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to entering livestock events and she wins — a lot.

One need to only look at the 2017 Floyd County Fair results to understand her competitive nature.

She’s earned many blue or purple ribbons with her cattle, swine, horses, sheep and dogs, as well as a couple of purple ribbons in crop production in non-livestock competition last summer at the fair.

Look for Jorgensen and her horse, Gizmo, Friday afternoon when games competition begins. She’ll run barrels and all the other quick-hitting timed events included in the fast–paced action in the arena.

Gizmo has plenty of experience, as the quarter horse is around 20 years old — close to senior citizen age in horse years.

“He wouldn’t look like it, though, if you saw him,” said Jorgensen.

When it comes to fairs, Jorgensen doesn’t stop at the county level.

Last year at the Iowa State Fair, she teamed up with former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey to win the showmanship award with her steer “Hershey” at the Governor’s Charity Steer Show.

While there are seasoned veterans at the fair, there are also competitors who are relatively new to it all, like Dawson Schriever, a 15-year-old who will be a sophomore at RRMR and who has only been competing for three years.

Schriever already reeled in a blue ribbon in halter on Tuesday with her horse, Cassie, a 5-year-old bay with a star on her forehead. She also showed in western pleasure for the Rockford FFA.

Schriever got her first horse when she was 12. She also competes in other shows in the area during the summer as a member of the North Iowa Saddle Club.

“My parents bought me my first pony and I fell in love with them ever since,” said Dawson.

Schriever likes the responsibility of taking care of her horse and getting her ready to perform on the big stage.

“There’s always going to be a lot of competition no matter what, so you always have to try to do your best,” she said.

The horse show is back up and running again today at 1:30 p.m. on the Floyd County Fairgrounds.