Rows of barns stand next to each other. In one barn, rotund pigs stroll lazily in their pens, making “oink” sounds. In another group, goats stand restlessly in their stalls while, off to the side, a teenager shears a buck.
Welcome to the 62nd Annual Howard County Fair. Held last week, the fair showcased amusement rides, horse races, numerous animal competitions, and an educational petting zoo for kids.
Farm families in Howard and other Maryland counties held court, displaying their prized animals and putting up livestock for sale.
Living on a farm in Clarksville, the O?Keefe family and its seven children presented their animals at the fair.
Rachel O?Keefe, a fifth-grader at Dayton Oaks Elementary School, loves “getting to know the animals and playing with them.”
At the petting zoo, children played in the corn and straw jump, and said hello to the many creatures there: two baby lambs and their mother, a brown white-spotted pony, a llama, a group of piglets and more.
There was no bickering among the animals. They seemed to get along just fine.
Kristina Routh, a preschooler at Mt. Zion Christian Preschool, had a blast at the petting zoo.
Her favorite animals at the fair were the cows, because “they give cow juice.”
Sam Kinloch, a kindergartener at Elmer A. Wolfe Elementary School, adores the pigs. “I like the noise they make,” Sam said.
