PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Becky Brashear, CFE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2003

FREDERICK, MD-- Visitors to the 141^st Great Frederick Fair can expect to see a record-breaking number of livestock entries and indoor exhibits Sept. 12-20, according to fair officials.

"Although the fair itself has changed to adapt to the times, our purpose is still to preserve the tradition of agriculture in Frederick County," said Fair Board President J.R. Ramsburg, Jr. "The fair is a time for Frederick County to show off the best it has to offer. That will never change."

Throughout the nine-day event, fair goers will be able to see and in some cases pet a cow, alpaca, sheep, goat, rabbit, chicken and other livestock entries. The indoor exhibits will showcase a vast range of hand-made items and creative displays. Various educational exhibits will also be located around the fairgrounds for our visitors.

The Northeast Regional Texas Longhorn cattle show will be held over the last weekend of the fair. Cattle will be shown Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19 and 20, respectively.

The open class dairy shows will be split with the Jersey, Milking Shorthorn and Brown Swiss on exhibit and shown the first half of fair week, and the Ayrshire, Guernsey and Holstein the last half. The shows have been split to allow for ore room for more exhibitors in the dairy breeds.

The 4-H alpaca show will be held Saturday, Sept. 13, at Building 18. There will be no open llama show this year. The open class alpaca show will take place Friday and Saturday, Sept.19 and 20, at Building 32. The shows are sanctioned events for exhibitors who can gain points to participate at regional and national shows. Last year’s show featured 359 entries by 61 exhibitors.

Livestock animal entries will be made by open class and 4-H exhibitors. Open class exhibitors may be any age and from any county or state; 4-H animal entries are limited to youngsters

between eight and 18 years old who are members of the Frederick County 4-H Program.

In the open class division, spectators can expect to see more than 400 head of sheep shown by 51 exhibitors; 232 head of beef cattle shown by 60 exhibitors; 450 head of dairy cattle shown by 120 exhibitors; 430 head of dairy goats shown by 67 exhibitors; 114 horse exhibits were shown by 35 exhibitors; 300 head of swine shown by 24 exhibitors; and 200 poultry shown by 20 exhibitors.

In last year's 4-H division, 98 youngsters showed 248 head of beef cattle; 68 showed 300 head of sheep; 76 showed 290 head of dairy cattle; 54 showed 231 head of dairy goats. In the horse and pony division 56 exhibitors showed 231 exhibits. The swine show saw 400 head exhibited by 98 4-H'ers, and 11 members showed 53 exhibits in poultry. In the rabbit/cavy division, 88 animals were shown by 18 members.

Again this year, the 4-H and open class supreme champion dairy animals will be selected during the "LegenDAIRY Celebration" on Friday, Sept. 19. "Traditionally, we have a larger number of fair visitors in the evenings, therefore we introduced this special format for champion selection in 1997 to highlight our livestock exhibits to this larger audience," Ramsburg said. "This special ceremony has become very popular with our visitors, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to bring this special recognition to the exhibitors who have some of the best quality animals in the United States."

The Great Frederick Fair Board of Managers takes pride in its number and quality of exhibits, both in the livestock and indoor departments. "It is tradition that when you come to our fair, you see the best there is," Ramsburg stated. "The Great Frederick Fair draws a large number of exhibits every year and we are proud of our track record."