HEPPNER — A deceptively chill breeze and cloud cover over Heppner belied the children laughing and screaming below at the sixth day of the Morrow County Fair on Friday, Aug. 20, where people gathered together from all over the county for fun and action.

The smell of hay and livestock spilled out from the open doors of the main barn, where youths could be found at the 4-H and FFA Master Showmanship competition, the steers, horses and sheep sauntering slowly along to the children’s and teens’ prodding and commands as they made loops of the pen to soft claps.

Bart Lentz, a tall man with a friendly smile from Heppner, had brought his daughter, Kodie, to the fair earlier to show her pig and said they enjoyed having the fair back after a year off.

“We enjoy getting to see friends and having family around,” Lentz said.

Erin Heideman, the Morrow County 4-H coordinator and a part of Oregon State University’s extension office, agreed the community aspect was one of the best parts of having the fair back this year. Between emceeing the youth livestock show and answering questions, Heideman’s passion for the future of agriculture is obvious.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about how do we support our youth and how do we promote agricultural education. This is how we do it,” she said. “Our hope is that as these young people grow and develop that they’ve been under the tutelage of some pretty amazing adults that then become the next generation of producers.”

She said while numbers in 4-H and FFA dropped a bit because of COVID-19 in 2020, it has seen a large increase in renewed interest lately.

“I think it’s it’s the value of the work ethic,” she said, “the camaraderie amongst parents and community and the opportunity to really teach our kids where their food and fiber comes from.”

Beth Dickenson, the county’s FFA advisor and one of Heideman’s friends from their time at OSU, spoke about how it’s more important than ever to get children involved in agriculture.

“The more time that goes on, the less connection that more and more people have,” Dickenson said. “And so then this becomes a novelty and a misunderstood industry. You want to eat and you want clothes, and you want lumber to build your home or your remodel, but you don’t know where it comes from. And then you pass legislation and vote for legislation and it goes against all the things that you want.”

“We are all in this together,” Heideman said. “We all make sure kids are doing well. We are concerned about their safety and well-being. We want them to be extremely competitive but ultimately our job is to raise the next generation of Morrow County citizens. That’s our job.”

Heideman said there’s a ton of work that goes into events such as the Morrow County Fair, 4-H and FFA programs and it wouldn’t be possible without the copious number of volunteers.

“We have some amazing volunteers who are helping these kids be successful in their arena,” she said, “and it’s a real team effort.”

Many of the volunteers are kids as well — some who showed started working in the barn as early as 5:30 a.m. and stayed until after 6 p.m. to clean up and place fresh hay down after the competitions were finished.

“It’s hard,” she said. “It’s really hard and it’s not always roses. This (the showmanship) is the roses part of it.”

But livestock wasn’t the only part of the Morrow County Fair this week. With a rodeo, rides, mouth-watering food and musical performances, attendees had a multitude of options to spend their day. For those lucky enough to be at the fair around 5 p.m., they had the opportunity to listen to 9-year-old Sarrafina James play hits from Metallica to Flamenco on her ukulele.

According to Justin James, her dad, she had just auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” before COVID-19 struck and forced everyone indoors. Putting in two to three hours of practice a day for the last year and a half, she was able to pick up the instrument quickly and perform alongside her dad’s hypnotist and comedy shows.

He said people have loved seeing Sarrafina play songs that challenge even grown adults, and she’s loved the crowd so far.

“It’s been an absolutely amazing fair,” he said.