Pete Dykstra, Adna, points out a bid for Mckenzi Murden's pig at the Junior Livestock Auction on Friday afternoon at the Southwest Washington Fair in Chehalis. Murden's 268.52-pound pig, named Magic, sold for $9 a pound, which was the highest for a pig at that point in the annual auction.
Marissa Ball, 9, and her twin sister, Macy, get ready to put the final touches on their pigs prior to the Junior Livestock Auction at the Southwest Washington Fair on Friday evening. Marissa's 220.5-pound pig auctioned for $3.75 per-pound, while Macy's 255.78-pound pig auctioned for $3.50 per-pound.
A bid spotter points towards a raised hand in the junior livestock auction crowd on Friday afternoon at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis.
For many of the 120 children who raised animals for the youth livestock sale Friday night at the Southwest Washington Fair, the moment was bittersweet.
Some said they were excited to show their animals and be done, others were sad to see their four-legged pals be auctioned off.
“I’m kinda sad,” said Katelynn Guenther, of Chehalis, whose pig, Miss Wilbur, was one of 75 hogs auctioned off Friday.
Katelynn said she named her pig after the main character in Charlotte’s Web — Wilbur. But because her pig was a female, unlike the character in the book, she named it Miss Wilbur.
Guenther said she enjoyed raising Miss Wilbur, as well as showing her at the fair.
“The worst part is having to see her go,” Guenther said with tears in her eyes as she sat on top of Miss Wilbur inside her stall before the auction.
During the auction, the children brought their animals into the ring in front of several bleachers packed with more than 100 onlookers and bidders.
Marissa Ball, a 9-year-old from Toledo, said she was also sad to part ways with her pig, Frito.
“I’m not looking forward to them being gone,” she said before the auction.
It was Marissa and her twin sister Macy Ball’s first year raising animals for the auction.
“I’m probably going to miss him,” Macy said.
Their 11-year-old sister, Alexis, said she was not as heartbroken as her younger sisters as her pig, Lucy, was her third one.
“This is my third year,” she said. “I’m used to it.”
The girls’ father, John Ball, said he has tried to teach his daughters to treat the animals with respect and to take good care of them, but to not get attached because the purpose is food production.
For 12-year-old Seth Harris, of Napavine, and his pig Auburn, the auction ended in disappointment — Auburn missed the minimum weight requirement by five pounds.
Harris said he does not know whether he will take Auburn to the state fair or sell her.
Harris, who said this was his first year raising his own animal for the auction, said this year was a good experience, but he did not know if he would do it next year.
