SPANISH FORK, Utah — A long-running Utah tradition will hit the century mark this year, and organizers are set to add new things to the old favorites to mark the occasion.
The Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork might be the oldest and longest-running livestock show west of the Mississippi River. To mark its 100th birthday this week, the event is launching a new scholarship program and service project.
"We just wanted to make this year just super special," said volunteer Darann Smith.
Although the show starts April 30, a special legacy dinner kicked things off Monday, bringing together people whose lives have been impacted by the annual festivities.
"It is going to perpetuate and continue on for years and years," Smith said of the new programs. "We had an amazing, amazing dinner where we had an auction and raised $63,000."
The show is for anyone in 4H or FFA who wants to show their livestock outside of the county or state fair, and is the biggest of its kind in the state with about 450 exhibitors.
This year, any of the seniors who enter into the show can apply for the scholarship which provides money that can go to a trade school, an agriculture project or college.
Organizers also launched a food drive and service project. The Miracle of Agriculture Foundation will match the pounds of food, per pound, with pounds of hamburger donated to Tabitha’s Way, a food pantry helping families in Utah County.
But it's the livestock show that's helped so many.
"Without a doubt, I would no be where I am today in my life without my involvement in the livestock program," said 26-year-old Sakia White.
White, who grew up showing pigs, sheep, and cattle before earning her Agriculture Education Degree at Utah State, now works for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation.
"[The show] taught me responsibility," she explained, "and it taught me how to network and have relationships with people.
"You work hard for 4 or 5 months with your project, and it all comes down to that moment of being at the show and showing your project; and I lost way more than I ever won. In fact, I never won grand champion in this show or any show, in fact, in all my 10 years of showing, I never won grand champion. But being on the other side of it now that’s not what was important."
White says the life lessons learned are invaluable, but it's the friendships made along the way that were priceless.
CLICK HERE for more information on the 100th anniversary of the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork, and how to enter by April 1.
