Learning Vibe: Canby FFA members reap benefits of showing at the fair

Sitting calmly under one of the large tents that marked the 4-H and FFA pens and show rings at this year’s Clackamas County Fair, a quartet of juniors-to-be at Canby High School chatted about life and the work ahead.

Caleb Welander, MacKenzie Peck, Serenity Tuck, and Alexsis Williams were living their best Clackamas County Fair life under that big tent, tending to their goats, doing their best in the show ring, and learning more than a little about life. All four said the lessons of raising and showing goats under the FFA umbrella were valuable.

“We get here early and have to get everything ready, clean the pens, do barn duty, and then wait to show,” said Welander. “It gives you experience in dealing with the animals and with people.”

For Williams, the experience and the work that go into it “just makes you learn to be responsible for your animals. It gives you leadership and you learn to be responsible, be on time and make sure you take care of your animals. I’m more responsible now. I’ve learned so much from this.”

For Tuck, the experience in the barns and show rings isn’t new. She spent three years in Washington doing 4-H. Now, dialed into Canby FFA, she gets to put the skills she’s learned from those early years to go use.

And the lessons she’s learned have proven valuable.

“It’s an amazing experience, one you never forget,” she said. “You meet people here that you will remember forever. You work as a team to accomplish things and represent your chapter.”

Peck sees the camaraderie created within the Canby FFA Chapter, as well as relationships built with others from across other clubs and chapters, as valuable beyond the winning and losing of the show ring.

“It’s fun to be here and meet friends you don’t go to school with and show against,” Peck said. “Doing this has helped me with leadership and not being so shy.”

“Yeah, this really forces you to get out of your bubble,” Welander added.

And with that, it was back to rakes, shovels and making sure their goats were resting comfortably, well fed, or ready to hit the show ring.