Fair price: Winning bid for pig is $74 a pound at Flagler County Fair and Youth Show as community helps family of injured youth

Nearly $50,000 was raised for the family of 4-H member Riley Lauremore, who suffered a traumatic head injury in a boating accident.

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The normal winning bid for a pig at the Flagler County Fair and Youth Show’s livestock auction ranges from about $2 to $5 a pound, Penny Buckles, the president of the fair and youth show, said.

But on April 12, community members and local businesses came together to benefit the Lauremore family by raising nearly $50,000 for the pig of 12-year-old Riley Lauremore, who is in the hospital. Riley suffered a traumatic head injury in a boating accident on March 25.

He will have a long road to recovery, his mother, Amanda Lauremore, said on a gofundme page set up for the family.

The winning bid was $74 a pound for Riley’s pig, which weighed 266 pounds. A group of local businessmen took up a collection for add-ons. After the auction was over, other people donated $1, $3 and $6 a pound for additional add-ons, Buckles said.

The pig was taken to the meat processor, and the fair and youth show board paid for the processing with the meat being donated back to the family, Buckles said.

Buckles said there were probably 30 to 35 people bidding on the pig.

“We've never done this before,” she said. “This young man's family has been involved with the fair's livestock show for several years. They grew up in this community. He is one of our 4-H members, and his mother is a 4-H leader. We're all praying for him.”

Buckles said there was a huge crowd at the Flagler County Fairgrounds for the five-day 4-H and FFA livestock show and sale April 8-12.

A showmanship competition was held on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with a grand and reserve champion named in the different categories: chickens and rabbits on April 8; goats, heifers and steers on April 10; and pigs on April 11. The livestock auction was held on closing night, April 12. 

“These kids put their auction money and their add-on money right back into their projects, because these animals are their businesses,” Buckles said. “They learn business skills through this program. Once (the animals) are auctioned off, we have an awards banquet and the kids are given their checks. A lot of them save their money for college.”

The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension administers the Florida 4-H Youth Development Program. The program is not limited to agriculture, Buckles said.

Archery, equestrian, sewing, baking are some of the  other activities offered. FFA, she said, is offered in middle schools and high schools and “develops leadership, personal growth and career skills through agriculture education.”

The annual event at the fairgrounds has focused on the livestock show and sale because it has been without a midway since COVID, Buckles said.

“We haven't been able to bring one back, because we’re the last (county) fair in the state until the fall months, and it's just difficult to find one at (this) time, so we're primarily focusing on the 4-H and FFA youth livestock shows and sale,” she said.

The Flagler County Fair and Youth Show is a non-profit organization that is not funded by the county or the state, Buckles said. 

 

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