Pretty cows, cute kids and agricultural life showcased at Pensacola Interstate Fair

For most, the Pensacola Interstate Fair is the midway with its gravity-bending rides that send riders screaming and twisting their stomachs into knots, or the cacophony of scents wafting through the grounds luring visitors to Pronto dogs, turkey legs, and a mélange of Hispanic, Jamaican and Caribbean food dishes. The fair is funnel cakes , bumper cars and trying to win the big stuffed creature on gaming row, where midway workers challenge you to pop balloons, or toss a basketball into a hoop. Never as easy as it seems.

But for many others, the fair is completely different. On the north side of the fairgrounds Sunday evening, it was a whole different scene, and a whole different type of smells for sure. It's the livestock area, where country kids toss a football in a dusty area between the cattle pens and cleaning areas. Other kids played in a mound of stored sawdust used throughout the fair's livestock area.

Other kids brushed, combed and gussied up their cows readying them for Sunday's big show − the Pensacola Interstate Fair's Prettiest Cow competition, where cows are not judged on the breed specific merits, but on how well the cow and its young handler command the runway, which was actually the open-air livestock arena at the fair.

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There was a young boy affixing angel wings and halo to his diminutive mini-Hereford cow, appropriately named "Bitsy." Nearby, another young girl was dressing her cow in a "Drama Queen" cloak and pink skirt, matching her own "Drama Queen" shirt and skirt outfit.

Is the cow, Ruby, really a drama queen?

"Yes,'' said her handler, 10-year-old Marlee McElhaney. "She makes a lot of noise and likes to get her way."

She's asked if Ruby throws a fit when she doesn't get her way.

"Yes, she does."

"Do you throw a fit when you don't get your way,'' she's asked.

A smile crept across her little face.

"Sometimes."

The Pensacola Interstate Fair runs through Oct. 27 at the fairgrounds on Mobile Highway.

Sunday's "Prettiest Cow" contest was just the start of the fair's youth livestock events, which included Monday's Youth & Future Farmers of America Steer Show, Tuesday's Youth Steer Breeding Show & Prospect Steers, and Wednesday's Youth & FFA Steer Auction, where the youngsters and their families who have spent small fortunes caring and feeding the cows, put them on the auction block to recoup some of the costs.

"This is what the fair is all about,'' said Andy Peterson, longtime manager of the fair's livestock arena and program. "We have a slogan − 'We don't raise cattle. We use cattle to raise kids."

Youngsters who are involved in various fair features such as livestock, agriculture and other farming aspects are eligible for scholarships. Since 1985, the nonprofit Pensacola Interstate Fair has given more than $1.5 million in scholarships to area students. The fair board awards 20 scholarships of $1,250 each year and five scholarships of $1,000.

Since its inception, the Pensacola Interstate Fair has celebrated farming and agriculture and its various aspects, from canning and preserving food, to teaching children aspects of a more rural life.

"A lot of these kids are city kids and don't know anything about farming,'' said Michelle Cole, who manages the Big Red Barn at the fair, where kids learn how to make butter, construct a water cycle bracelet, germinate seeds, and gather potatoes and carrots from the potato patch. "This is a great way to educate them, because they have fun while they learn. A lot of adults learn watching too. And we have a great group of high school volunteers who learn a lot themselves."

Numerous area FFA and 4-H Clubs participate in the fair, creating static displays showcasing activities ranging from beekeeping to innovators in agriculture, as well as raising cows, chickens, goats and more.

For some, the rural aspect of the fair is a family tradition.

"I was showing (steer) here 30 years ago,'' said Joshua McElhaney, father of Marlee, as he helped his daughter get the drama queen ready for the show, where a flock of folks had gathered to see the prettiest cow of them all. "So, to have my kids involved is just awesome."

In another section of the livestock area, little cowboy Roan Cannon, 7, was, with assistance from mother Tiffanie Cannon, helping attach wings and an angel's halo to little Bitsy. The family raises cattle, and Roan is a member of the Jackson County 4-H near Cottondale.

With his cowboy boots and white hat, red bandana across his neck, the young Roan towered over itsy Bitsy as he led her into the sawdust covered arena, with a few other cows in his category.

"They learn hard work and responsibility early on,'' Tiffanie Cannon said. "It teaches them values that last for them a lifetime."

Nearby others readied their cows for the big show, as a host of judges and lots of onlookers waited for the cow catwalk to begin.

So, what's a judge look for? A batting of those sweet cow eyes? A little sassy tail wag?

"You know, the competition is tough,'' said Tim Dorothy, manager of the event's sponsor, Tractor Supply on Nine Mile Road. "You look at the condition of the cow, the creativity involved and how much time was put into it. But I really don't know how you make a cow look pretty. But this gives them a chance to have some fun and dress up their cows before things get really serious." He's referring to the following days' steer and cattle shows and auction.

A few minutes later, the cows started coming. Malarie Cooper, a seventh-grade student at Jay High School wearing a Chick-fil-A type uniform, entered with a cow, Wilbert, draped in a cow cape of some sorts with the restaurant's "Eat Mor Chikin' " slogan written on it. Next door in the poultry barn, the chickens were heard squawking.

Malarie won first prize in the intermediate age division, while her younger sister, Blakely Cooper, a fifth-grade student at Jay Elementary, won her junior division competition and Overall Prettiest Cow with her portrayal of Noah, beard and all, leading her steer Bullet into the ring with the cow wearing a cardboard coat shaped like an ark with various animal cutouts attached. (Yes, we know steer are not technically "cows," which are adult female cattle, but the contest was using the "big tent" definition.)

For her win, Blakely got a bucket supply of farm goodies from Tractor Supply.

"She was really excited,'' said her mother, Beth Cooper, but added that her daughters are getting more of an education than anything when it comes to cows and cattle.

"It's not the children raising the cows,'' she said, echoing Peterson's statement earlier. "It's the livestock helping raise the kids. They're learning so much about life, responsibility, time management, money management and so many other things."

Next year, Blakely hopes to raise hogs as well as steers, aiming to win the Bobby Gindl Hog Award at next year's Gulf Coast Agriculture & Natural Resources Youth Organization Livestock Show. Gindl is a legendary figure in Florida Ag circles, and a 1971 Tate High graduate who taught in Escambia County for more than 30 years and was the leader of the Barrineau Park 4-H Club, the oldest continuous 4-H club in the state.

"She really wants to win her granddaddy's award,'' said Beth Cooper, one of Gindl's daughters. "Thats really important to her."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pretty cows, cute kids and agricultural life showcased at Pensacola Interstate Fair