HEMPSTEAD, Texas – Members of the Waller County Fair Association have come up with a winning formula that helps make the annual exposition so successful every year.

Youth is the primary mission, and the youngsters’ triumphs feed the Waller County Fair, which takes place Thursday, Sept. 25-Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Waller County Fairgrounds in Hempstead.

“Everybody wants to be the winner, but a lot of kids are here for the fair experience and to have fun,” said Sherry Roesner, the fair manager and the association’s secretary. “The parents tell us, ‘We just want our kids to have that experience.’

“They’re not necessarily worried about being the grand champion or the reserve champion, but they come for the friendship and the camaraderie. They may not even go to the carnival, because they’ll be down in the barn with all their friends.”

The fun and fellowship are the cornerstones laid years ago by 4H and FFA groups in southeast Texas, and the competition shines because of it, especially in livestock showing. Many of the youth involved in the local expo have been exposed to a variety of experiences.

“We have very stiff competition because the majority of our people go to all the major shows,” Roesner said. “Our fair is during the State Fair of Texas, so sometimes people are trying to decide what animal they’re going to take to the state fair. Most people stay here.

“Showing is constant, and some of these families travel all over to these shows every weekend. They do it with cattle and pigs and whatever, but it’s pretty big around here. The showmanship is unreal.”

That just adds to the level of competition that is featured in Hempstead every fall.

“You have to get a quality calf to compete at the level of our fair,” said Bobby Coursey, the fair association’s president. “To add to that, these kids are doing their homework and working with their animals. It goes back to the heritage of our county. We all grew up in Waller County, so it’s a little bit of pride to our county roots. You grew up in livestock, so you’re instilling that into our youth.

“It teaches them work ethic and all the good stuff that comes with that.”

It’s character-building, and organizers are creating other opportunities with the growth of competition and the development of new projects. One that’s still recent is the Pen of Two show, where a kid will acquire two heifers that match as much as possible.

“You want them to look alike, be the same size, potentially be bred to have a calf about the same time,” Roesner said. “They’re wild, just two heifers out in the pasture. They bring them up here and put in a pen, where two judges will score the cattle. There also is a record-keeping judge so you can explain how much you spent, how much were the vet bills, the rent, the feed, etc.

“You have to put in a record book everything you can think of that you would have in a cattle operation, then you use that in the interview you do. At a lot of places, it’s called the Commercial Pen of Heifers, but ours is the Pen of Two.”

While showing the Pen of Two is a bit different in that the animals aren’t halter-broke nor led into the pen, it’s still a chance for young people to develop skills that should be beneficial to them as they mature.

“These kids are putting their hearts and souls into those animals,” Coursey said. “Along with our regular livestock show, it’s hands-down second to none. I would say we’re probably the toughest county in the state as far as the depth of quality that we have.

“You could take a steer or heifer out of our regular halter division, haul them to a major show and do well.”

The great support the youth receive from the county, sponsors and buyers just magnifies the quality of showing that happens at the fair.

“We have very tough competition,” Coursey said. “We have cattle, rabbits, poultry, swine, goats, lambs, and we have families that have showed that are going to start breeding animals. That is the heart and soul of our fair.”