RIPLEY, W.Va. — Students who raised livestock for the Jackson County Junior Livestock Fair were handsomely rewarded back on Friday evening.
The total sales for the 4-H and FFA project animals, for the first time ever, topped $1 Million dollars.
“We finally jumped the Million dollar hump with like a one-Million, ten-thousand dollars for something like that,” said Eddie Smolder who coordinates the sale very year.
“What a great night for Jackson County. What a great night for our kids and hopefully their future goes better because we helped them out,” Smolder told WMOV Radio after the sale.
The top seller of the night was the Grand Champion Steer which WVU Jackson General Hospital bought for $77,000. Officials said that also was a record for a single animal.
The total could go higher when add-ons are factored into the sales. Add-ons come when someone adds more money to an animal or a group of animals which failed to bring a comparable amount to others being sold.
Fair Chairman John Curry was elated.
“We lived to see a Million dollar sale. We may not live to see another one, but we lived to see one,” he told WMOV.
Going into the sale, Curry said there was concern the economy was not the best and the sales figures might not be as robust. Last year the total sales were at $880,000 after add-ons. Curry said it is a credit to the local community.
“Even when things are bad around here, the community comes though. You’ve seen the support, they come in and a lot of them hang here all day long,” said Curry. “It amazes me every year.”
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