The town's young farmers are preparing for the fair.
It's a small group consisting of half a dozen members of Future Farmers of America at Riverbank High. But they work hard and rise early like farmers must.
They are Kayla Scallorn, Katie Ayers, Stephania Vasquez, Miguel Cebreros plus young Masey Cooper who is not yet a FFA member but will enter the kiddie showmanship class with a market goat.
During the summer vacation, they've been visiting the school farm at 8 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. each day to feed, water and exercise the goats, rabbits and chickens that live there, said Sherri Ayers, a longtime FFA supporter and mother of a member. Most of the rabbits, she noted, have been staying at her ranch instead of the school farm because they cannot stand the heat.
Come the opening of the Stanislaus County Fair this Friday, the FFA students will be out of their beds from 6 a.m. until midnight because fair authorities have cancelled recreational vehicle camping for schools at the fairgrounds and they will need to be transported to and from the fair each day.
That is costly besides hard on the youngsters, said Ayers, inviting donations to help pay for transportation besides maybe finding a sleeping place closer to the fair. Call her at 209-324-5741.
Riverbank High's FFA has entries in a number of varied categories. They include market Boer goat, show rabbits, junior photographs, potted herbs, cactus arrangements, welding projects, dress up bear, garden plot (10 by 20 feet), collection of 10, sewing, fresh-cut flowers and organic veggies.
All the girls have made a teddy bear, which is the fair's theme this year, and sewed clothes by hand to dress it up. Sherri Ayers said this was Scallorn's first attempt at sewing and she was amazed at her ability.
The cactus arrangements they have created range from a Disney Little Mermaid theme by Scallorn and beach scene complete with miniature surfboard by Ayers to a desert backdrop with a bleached cattle skull by Cebreros.
Collections of Ten, Ayers noted, mean just that; any collection of the same 10 objects. Riverbank FFA is offering 10 miniature pairs of shoes and an array of 10 seashells of various species.
The herbs gathered in one pot include pistou basil, dark opal, sweet basil and Greek.
In the garden plot category, it will offer carrots, squash, Swiss chard, peppercorn and sunflowers.
Jack Wool, agricultural sciences teacher and FFA advisor at Riverbank High for the last school year, has resigned and been replaced by Travis Cardoso.
It's a small group consisting of half a dozen members of Future Farmers of America at Riverbank High. But they work hard and rise early like farmers must.
They are Kayla Scallorn, Katie Ayers, Stephania Vasquez, Miguel Cebreros plus young Masey Cooper who is not yet a FFA member but will enter the kiddie showmanship class with a market goat.
During the summer vacation, they've been visiting the school farm at 8 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. each day to feed, water and exercise the goats, rabbits and chickens that live there, said Sherri Ayers, a longtime FFA supporter and mother of a member. Most of the rabbits, she noted, have been staying at her ranch instead of the school farm because they cannot stand the heat.
Come the opening of the Stanislaus County Fair this Friday, the FFA students will be out of their beds from 6 a.m. until midnight because fair authorities have cancelled recreational vehicle camping for schools at the fairgrounds and they will need to be transported to and from the fair each day.
That is costly besides hard on the youngsters, said Ayers, inviting donations to help pay for transportation besides maybe finding a sleeping place closer to the fair. Call her at 209-324-5741.
Riverbank High's FFA has entries in a number of varied categories. They include market Boer goat, show rabbits, junior photographs, potted herbs, cactus arrangements, welding projects, dress up bear, garden plot (10 by 20 feet), collection of 10, sewing, fresh-cut flowers and organic veggies.
All the girls have made a teddy bear, which is the fair's theme this year, and sewed clothes by hand to dress it up. Sherri Ayers said this was Scallorn's first attempt at sewing and she was amazed at her ability.
The cactus arrangements they have created range from a Disney Little Mermaid theme by Scallorn and beach scene complete with miniature surfboard by Ayers to a desert backdrop with a bleached cattle skull by Cebreros.
Collections of Ten, Ayers noted, mean just that; any collection of the same 10 objects. Riverbank FFA is offering 10 miniature pairs of shoes and an array of 10 seashells of various species.
The herbs gathered in one pot include pistou basil, dark opal, sweet basil and Greek.
In the garden plot category, it will offer carrots, squash, Swiss chard, peppercorn and sunflowers.
Jack Wool, agricultural sciences teacher and FFA advisor at Riverbank High for the last school year, has resigned and been replaced by Travis Cardoso.
