4-Hers and volunteers get fairgrounds ready for big week

Photos by Tom Rivers

KNOWLESVILLE – A group of about 50 4-H’ers and their families spent Wednesday evening at the 4-H Fairgrounds for a workbee, tackling projects to get the buildings and grounds for next week’s fair.

This photo shows 4-Hers in the horse barn, taking down last year’s decorations in a Hawaiian theme and putting up new ones in a disco theme from the ’70s.

Julie Fenton of Medina fastens decorations in a disco theme to one of the gates leading into the horse barn. Fenton’s daughter Kenley, 14, shows horses at the fair.

Walter Gabalski, right, helps put together pens for goats and sheep on Wednesday during the workbee. Mason Rutthoft, 10 of Barre, helps with the set up. He will be showing three goats at the fair next week.

Gabalski and his family are in the Orleans County 4-H program even though they live in Byron in neighboring Genesee. The youngest of Gabalski’s seven children is the last 4-Her in the family. Hugh Gabalski is 17. He will be showing two lambs and several rabbits at the fair.

Brilyn Rebisz, 19, of Bergen helps with the pen setup in the barn for goats and sheep. Brilyn has been showing goats at the Orleans County 4-H Fair since she was 11. This will be her last year as a 4-Her.

“This is the highlight of my summer,” she said about the fair. “It’s all the relationships with everybody. It’s like a family.”

Adam Dresser of Medina uses a saw to cut steel anchors out of the concrete floor in the cattle barn. Corey Miller of Lyndonville is at left.

The anchors were removed in an area that had a milking parlor. But there won’t be any milking cows at the fair this year. There will be many heifers that are dairy animals, but don’t need to be milked.

With no milking parlor next week, the space can be used for displays, Miller said.

This group gets stalls set up in the Knights Building.