‘Bicentennial Ox’ starred at Orleans County 4-H Fair
More oxen statues could be added to landscape in 2025
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – An ox in the Trolley Building emerged as one of the stars of the Orleans County 4-H Fair last week. Stacey Kirby Steward, an Albion native, spent several days at the fair painting the all-white fiberglass ox into a realistic creature.
Steward gave one side of the ox an agricultural theme and is working on the other side with fair scenes.
The ox is expected to stay on the fairgrounds, perhaps by the sign along Route 31 or by the giant pie tin for the World’s Largest Apple Pie in 1977. The ox may also be featured in lighted parades later this year, including Medina’s Parade of Lights and other Christmas parades in Albion, Barre and Clarendon.
The agricultural side shows a farmer and a team of oxen plowing a field. Kirby also painted apples and corn.
She enjoyed the feedback from the public, with many people exclaiming when they walked into the Trolley Building and saw a giant ox statue being painted.
“People have had a very positive response,” Steward said on Friday.
Steward has been a featured artist before at the fair, including back in high school when she did face painting. She also painted two murals with a cow theme on the Farm Bureau’s both, where milkshake and ice cream is served during fair week.
Steward said painting a fiberglass statue presented a new challenge, and often was time-consuming. But she thinks the statue showed it provides a nice canvas to paint scenes celebrating parts of Orleans County.
The statue was transformed during the week. It started off all-white.
The painting of the ox also was intended to gauge public interest in whether several oxen statues could be painted as part of a bicentennial tribute in 2025 when Orleans County celebrates its 200th anniversary.
Other communities have painted animal statues for civic pride, including horses in Rochester, buffalo in Buffalo, and squirrels in Olean. Saratoga Springs painted 5-foot-tall fiberglass statues of pointe shoes to celebrate dance. Saratoga is home to the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.
The ox statue was made in Texas and shipped to the Fairgrounds last month by FedEx. The Orleans County Bicentennial Committee will see if there are enough sponsors to have more oxen painted around the county for the bicentennial next year.
Orleans County officially formed on April 15, 1825. The State Legislature recognized Orleans County that day, allowing it to splinter from Genesee County.
Oxen were critical in helping pioneers tame the wild land two centuries ago. The oxen pulled wagons across rough terrain and helped clear trees for the early Orleans residents. The animals also were put to work in building the Erie Canal.
The ox may be incorporated into the theme and logo for the county’s bicentennial.
