Ode to Emma

Lynn and I spent the better part of last Thursday at the Canyon County Fair. That county fair must be one of the best run county fairs in the country. Like the Snake River Stampede and The Caldwell Night Rodeo, these events are a celebration of life and lifestyles in Idaho. The high school Future Farmers of America and the Four H Clubs(4H) whose mission is “engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development” are both organizations that promote values of family, faith, and work while teaching our children the skills and responsibilities of caring for Providential gifts.

I am a city boy. I was born in Minot North Dakota—we actually lived in Mohall, where my father and grandfather owned an interest in a large sheep ranch. Every weekend they would travel to the “ranch” to oversee the operation and then run our dogs preparing them for field trials or just for fun. The county fairs in North Dakota like Idaho, are big events. At an early age, my father was called up to the Korean War, so we left North Dakota. Every summer we would go back to Minot for the fair. My trip to the Canyon County fair caused me to reflect on my past life in North Dakota.

We were at the fair to watch 8-year-old Emma show her two sheep— Butter Cup and Daisy. This was the first time she would be in the show ring and when we talked to her before the first show, she was very nervous and very concerned about whether she could even control Butter Cup. She did great. She got a Blue Ribbon that day and over the next two days she got several other ribbons. With each show she gained confidence, and you could see how proud she was of her animals and herself. She can’t wait till next year. The entire family including grandparents and cousins were in the bleachers supporting her.

The connections, memories, and the life lessons that are created by placing our children into a show ring, or competing on an athletic field, or early on making them stand by their chair in a classroom and recite in front of their peers allows them to have the confidence later in life to face situations that require a belief in oneself. It will make them better husbands and wives raising their children, or businessmen and women, or farmers and ranchers—whatever.

There was one person that was singularly impressive during the sheep judging. The judge himself. I don’t know his name, but the respect he showed the kids who were showing their animals and the way he treated the animals themselves was exemplary. His bio mentioned that he owned a large cattle ranch and construction company in Texas. He had his master’s degree from Texas Tech in cattle and sheep judging and traveled all over the country in the summer as a professional judge. He had a microphone and talked his way through his decisions teaching neophytes like me and the kids showing their animals the “science” of his verdicts.

The kids treated him with the same respect that he showed them. Nobody argued with his decisions—though I did hear some grandparent grumbling in the bleachers and I was reminded of a time during a Senior League Baseball game when I was called out on a third strike. I turned around to the umpire and turned my bat over and showed the umpire in the dirt where the ball had traveled. Unknown to me my father was standing behind the backstop. He said firmly “the umpire said strike three”. No whining. NO expectation of “redress”. Get on with the job of playing your position and both you and the ump will learn. The umps words next time I came to the plate I will never forget “I missed strike three, but you missed the first two”. He was correct. Respect for those enforcing the rules of the game is the predicate for allowing the game to even be played. If no body respected the rules or the person enforcing the rules there would be no game at all.

There is nothing in the mission statements of (4H) or (FFA) that addresses the intricacies of raising an animal or how one should conduct an experiment in seed hybridization. They do address the issue of “learning by doing”. In the (4H) mission manual are the words “Young people learn best when they are involved in their learning and are in partnership with caring adults”.

I was honored to play for a Hall of Fame Football coach who was an example of a “caring adult”. After every practice and every game, he would huddle with his assistants and ask the question: “Are we making better boys?”

Parents, teachers, livestock judges and coaches (all of us) have a stake in our children’s future. The value of human capital is difficult to measure but is the single most important investment we could ever make to secure the future for our children and their children.

We teach these values by learning the value of work, cooperation, and sometimes winning and sometimes failing. . Most of these experiences are not able to be taught in the classroom or in a corporate “woke sensitivity training session”.

Thank you to all the adults, mothers and fathers, teachers and coaches, and livestock judges, who take the time to show our children how to become their “best selves”.