Olmsted County 4-H members look back as they show in their final year

(ABC 6 News) – When you think of the Olmsted County Fair, you probably think of all the food and rides. But for 4-H members, the fair means so much more.

Dyllon Lohmann of Stewartville, has been showing animals such as rabbit, poultry, beef goats, dairy cows, and alpaca since third grade. It’s her last year in 4-H and she’s had a busy one.

“Before fair week, there’s a lot of washing to be done for all the animals. Clipping them so their hair looks nice. So it takes a lot of time allocation. When you have other time commitments you have to figure out when will work best and you have to sacrifice some things. Working less with certain animals and more with others,” said Lohmann who will be entering her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

It’s also the last year of 4-H for Anne Simpson of Pine Island. It takes a lot of hard work to show meat goats and dairy cows. But, it’s worth it as she’s headed to the Minnesota State Fair for placing high during the Olmsted County Fair,

“The hardest lessons I had to learn is that it’s ok to ask for help. It really does take a village to get all the animals ready especially when you have six cows and 10 goats and they’re back-to-back in classes and you’re running back and forth,” said Simpson who is going to be a sophomore at Iowa State University.

“So I think I would’ve, I think if I knew to ask for help earlier, I would’ve had some easier years but that’s probably the biggest lesson.”

Simpson can only take one animal to the State Fair. She said because she brought her cow the first year she showed at the fair, so she will probably bring it again for her last year. Bringing things full circle as she finishes her final 4-H season.