Silvana Fair helps kids develop show skills

With larger fairs in Stanwood, Monroe and Puyallup looming, a small fair in Silvana, held July 27, helps develop the show skills for local youth.

The Silvana Fair, which is marking its 72nd anniversary, is a small, one-day fair where young animal breeders show off their cattle, rabbits, poultry, goats, swine, camelids and dogs.

"It's more of a teaching fair," said Mary Fuentes, president of the Silvana Fair. Youth dress appropriately, and judges ask the kids a lot of questions and offer suggestions on how to show animals. Youth participating in the fair are often members of 4-H or Future Farmers of America, while others are in the community, Fuentes said.

Animal judging begins at 10 a.m. and continues throughout the day.

The Silvana Fair is the first event of the season where participants can show their animals. It provides preparation for the larger Stanwood Camano Fair that takes place the following weekend, the Evergreen State Fair in August and the Washington State Fair that starts at the end of August.

A small group of alpacas and llamas will be evaluated for the first time during the Silvana Fair.

"People are very curious about llamas and alpacas," said Ruth Wiegand who is the alpaca/llama superintendent of the Silvana Fair. She and her husband, Gary, own South Fork Farm near Mount Vernon where they raise alpacas.

"We are finding more people in the community having a llama and one or two alpacas," Fuentes added.

Because it's the first year llamas and alpacas will be critiqued, the fair will limit entries to the first 10 in 2019. In 2018 alpacas and llamas were present as an education tool, Fuentes said.

Alpacas and llamas will be judged on how the animals interact with the owner and the judges, and critiqued on how they handle more of a real life situations such as interacting with a dog, stairs or a baby stroller, Wiegand said.

The fair provides a host of other activities throughout the day. After the opening ceremony that includes a flag raising, animal judging will begin and continue throughout the day.

A greased pole contest for youth ages 12 and younger starts at 12:15 p.m. Participants try to climb a greased pole and grab one of 10 envelops stuffed with cash ranging in value from $1 to $20.

"It's luck of the draw for whichever one you get," Fuentes said.

More adult displays can be found indoors including quilts, canning, photography, crafts, woodwork and hourly demonstrations.

The fair culminates with the parade of champions that begins at 4:30 p.m.

For more information, go to www.silvanafair.com.