Adelyn Pike, 8, of Bradford, with her oxen team at the Tunbridge World’s Fair. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur for VTDigger At the Tunbridge World’s Fair, the future of Vermont farming depends on the kids — and their massive animals — who are keeping the traditions alive. “Not a lot of people get to interact with animals, especially big animals like this,” said Sylvia Johnson, 17, hanging out near her grand champion heifer, Gift. “So it’s kind of cool to educate people.” That was the purpose of Agricultural Education Day, which brought more than 2,100 students to Thursday’s opening day of the Tunbridge World’s Fair, which ends Sunday. For fair organizers, the day is a chance to show children that the event is more than rides, games and food, and to pass along agricultural knowledge that depends on another generation learning it. With the rides dormant to prevent distraction, students moved through barns and exhibits, watched young people show animals and completed scavenger hunts about agriculture and the fair’s history. Johnson had been at the fairgrounds since 5 a.m., washing calves before the Guernsey show. Guernseys are a specific breed of dairy cattle known for producing golden-colored milk. Other breeds, like Holstein, Ayrshire and Jersey cows, also compete at the fair. By the early evening, Johnson was doing homework in the barn and watching the exhausted animals rest. She showed off her Gift’s curly tail, which she likes to fluff out to look “super frizzy, kind of like Dolly Parton’s hair.” “This is like the most chill time,” she said. “I’m doing my homework, just watching the calves chill out. They’re all pretty tired.” Mason Perron, of Walpole, N.H., relaxes with her cattle during the Tunbridge World’s Fair. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur for VTDigger Johnson, who has participated in 4-H for nearly a decade, also helps younger members care for their calves. The educational day is part of a much older tradition. Jen Thygesen, a member of the fair’s board of directors, comes from a family with a long history at the fair. Her father once served as its president, and she now leads a 4-H group that showed cows Thursday morning. Some members’ classmates came to watch the show and support their participating friends, Thygesen said. One group of high school boys stopped to ask her about the fair’s history. “You’re here with your friends, and you see people that you don’t see all year long,” Thygesen said. “The sense of community here is amazing.” Vermont’s 13 agricultural fairs collectively record more than 314,000 visits annually, according to Abbey Willard, director of the Agricultural Development Division at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.  The state distributes between $300,000 and $400,000 each year to help fairs improve infrastructure and support the administrative work required to run them. Willard said fairs remain important gathering places for farmers who spend much of the summer working in the fields. But their future also depends on giving children direct experiences with animals and the people who raise them. That transfer of knowledge continued Thursday afternoon, when Jared Felch judged the Junior Poultry Show. Felch has raised birds since he was 9 and has judged competitions for 14 years. He said his primary goal is to draw young people into agriculture and show them that poultry involves far more than chickens laying eggs. During the poultry show, Felch gently examined each of the seven birds, holding their heads still with his thumb and spreading their wings to inspect individual feathers. As he eliminated birds, he called their young handlers over, crouched beside them and explained his decisions.  Judging can come down to the color of a single feather, he said. Poultry judge Jared Felch, of Berlin, examines a chicken during the Tunbridge World’s Fair. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur for VTDigger The fair’s directors are extending that lesson beyond the fairgrounds with “The Fair Through My Eyes,” a contest for people 18 and younger. Participants may submit an essay, photograph, poem or visual artwork answering the question, “What did I learn at the fair?” Submissions are due Oct. 15, and awards will be announced later this fall. “When I see a kid that says, ‘Hey, this is Buttercup,’ or ‘This is Julie,’ or whatever they have named their bird, and they get so excited about telling about their bird, it just makes it all rewarding at the end of the day,” Felch said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s just to see that excitement in the kids.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Pre-dawn calf washes and tail fluffing: Scenes from opening day at Tunbridge World’s Fair . ...read more read less