Document text
Giving something back to the auction Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Crater High School sophomore Lacie Hoffman walks her horse, Sam, on her family�s property in Central Point. Lacie and three of her colleagues in Future Farmers of America did so well on their steers at a fair auction last month they decided to bid on and buy the steers of two others who were less fortunate. Top fair earners pool money to make generosity bids for other exhibitors By Vicki Guarino CENTRAL POINT � Gratitude turned to generosity in the final hours of the Jackson County Fair this summer as four of the top young competitors gave a boost to a couple of struggling colleagues. The group pooled a portion of their record earnings from the youth steer auction at last month�s fair to bid on and buy the steers of two exhibitors who were drawing no other offers in the packed auction house. And their efforts to buy a third steer, eventually sold to another bidder, probably drove up that animal�s selling price. "It was pretty cool for kids like us to go out and support the program because nobody has ever done it before,�� says one of the four buyers, Crater High School sophomore Lacie Hoffman. "It was a lot of fun, too.�� The 4-H and Future Farmers of America auction at the close of youth classes at the Jackson County Fair is the festive culmination of nearly a year�s worth of work and hope. Exhibitors solicit buyers months in advance with handwritten letters, personal invitations and tickets to the fair, the buyers� dinner and the auction itself. It�s a combination of winning personality and salesmanship coupled with livestock savvy and hours of careful husbandry that produces the auction�s big prices. Kids use the money to pay off bills from the year�s livestock project (which amount to a few thousand dollars), finance the next year�s animal project, and � everyone hopes � build college funds. The auction can be a windfall. This year, it was a staggering windfall for top exhibitors. Bidders spent just over $25,000 to buy Lacie�s Angus cross. The animal was the fair grand champion for both 4-H and FFA. A team of bidders who annually bid on and buy the fair�s best steer � businessmen Stan Foley, Casey Casebier and Herb Sutton � had to beat their 1999 record bid by $9,000 to take the Angus. As the auction continued, so did the hot bidding. The sales records kept falling away. Bidders had to spend $16,000 for Crater senior Chris Dode�s FFA reserve champion. The price matched the selling price for the grand champion last year. Then came Eagle Point sister and brother Lindsay and David Trautman. Lindsay was the overall fair reserve grand champion, finishing just behind Lacie. David was the FFA champ. Sales for the four totaled $64,000, Lacie says. In the course of the auction, the fair�s top animals go on the block first. Just a short time into the evening, Lacie recalls, Chris Dode pulled her aside. They had just earned so much money, Chris told her, so much more than they ever expected; they should contribute something back to the program. Quickly they came up with the idea to go back into the arena, this time as bidders. "It was just going to be me and him,�� Lacie says, "but then I said, �why don�t we get the top four?�" The Trautmans eagerly went along. All four agreed they would go for the animals that drew no bids at all. The absence of bidders can have no relation to the animal�s quality, says Lacie. FFA and 4-H exhibitors have to go out into the community and market themselves and their animals well before the fair starts. Failure to do so yields an uncomfortable silence in the auction barn. But silence this year gave way to a standing ovation when the four students came forward to take Eagle Point High School senior Blake Cam�s steer. They entered the bidding again when Hanby Middle School sixth-grader Thomas White, of Gold Hill, led his steer to the block. Lindsay, David, Chris and Lacie each spent $1,100 to help a couple of competitors. As for the animals, one they donated to the Dunn House shelter for battered women. The other they resold on a secondary, lower-price market to recoup some of their costs. Both Blake and Thomas were grateful. "I was surprised," Blake says. "It was a neat thing they did to get together and buy my steer." Lacie�s mother, Kathy Hoffman, was overwhelmed. First her daughter won grand champion, then sparked an extraordinary bidding war, and finally, surprisingly came back into the auction. "I cried," she said. "It was amazing to see her make that decision on her own." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA