By Jesse Wright

Picayune Item

The seventy-first annual county livestock show and fair kicks off Saturday morning with a horse show. 

Sign up for that event begins at 8:30 a.m. with the show starting at 10 a.m. The show offers a taste of things to come in the following days. 

Dawn Vosbein, the family and consumer science agent at the Pearl River County Extension office said that as in years past, Monday and Tuesday they’ll be accepting exhibits. She encourages everyone to get their talent out and bring it to Poplarville.

“People can bring crafts, they can bring food, and flowers and plants and crochet and knitting and art and photography and all kinds of stuff,” she said. Both adults and children can register exhibits and, Vosbein said, entrants have a chance to win cash and prizes and maybe even a trip to the state fair. 

The only requirement is the exhibit must be owned by and be the work of the exhibitor. Vosbein said she’s hopeful people will bring all kinds of different things this year, including homemade food.

“So even if you brought one jar of jelly, you can potentially make $3 bucks, which at least pays for the jelly,” she said. 

Exhibits may be entered Monday or Tuesday, and then the exhibits will be judged Wednesday morning. 

If people don’t make crafts or cook, there’s always the pet show Friday afternoon. Only kids 19-years-old and younger may enter, but the divisions are numerous. Divisions include best-dressed cat and dog, pet with the best trick, cat with the longest tail, dog with the shortest tail and most unusual pet. 

Over the years, Vosbein said she’s seen a few interesting ones. 

“You can bring anything,” she said. “We’ve had rats and mice and I don’t know. I guess you can bring a tarantula if you wanted to.”

And of course there is the Wednesday evening carnival and, new this year, Wild Horse Ministries, featuring Paul Daily and his family. Daily is a horse-whisperer, and promises to saddle and ride an untrained horse in two hours. 

“It’s an interesting demonstration,” said Vosbein.

The livestock show kicks off Thursday with goats, sheep and pigs at 8 a.m. and runs through Saturday, with the beef cattle show. The carnival, too, will run through Saturday. 

Armbands for rides are $17 Wednesday and $20 on Friday and single tickets are $1.25 or 20 for $20. 

The fair and livestock show will be set up at the fairgrounds at Highway 11 and Highway 26 in Poplarville.