Volunteers from two states come together to host a livestock show and auction at The Expo after the McKinney fire forces the cancellation of the Siskiyou Gold Fair
Micah Deboer, lead installation technician for The Sign Dude, hangs a banner promoting the Siskiyou Gold Fair at the Jackson County Expo on Thursday. [Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune]
Minutes after it was announced that the 2022 Siskiyou Gold Show had been canceled this week due to the McKinney fire in Siskiyou County, Jackson County Expo Director , Helen Baker, was ringing.
Officials at the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds had to give up their facilities for fire operations, canceling the second summer fair in three years. The fairgrounds houses about 2,500 firefighters who use the facility as a base for operations related to the McKinney fire.
Fairgrounds officials in Siskiyou and Jackson counties said they were heartbroken that smaller livestock exhibitors could not show and sell their animals, after investing heavily in raising them.
The show, Baker said, must go on. So he announced Wednesday that a youth cattle show and sale will take place at The Expo next weekend, Aug. 12-14.
Volunteers have signed up to transport animals and families, as well as provide food.
“It was never about whether or not we were going to do everything we could,” Baker said. “But I was tickled by the number of people, the moment they heard it was cancelled, who were calling and texting and emailing saying, ‘Isn’t there anything you can do for them?’ Please help these children.”
Cliff Munson, general manager of the Siskiyou Gold Fair, said his heart sank for the children as soon as the fairgrounds had to go over for emergency use.
“It was not the choice of the board of the fair to cancel the fair. As soon as the governor declared that Siskiyou County was in a state of emergency, the fair had to be canceled. Obviously, we couldn’t have had a less opportune time for the McKinney fire to break out, two weeks before the fair,” Munson said.
“Although it wasn’t our choice for them to take over the fairgrounds, everyone has pulled together to make sure the kids aren’t left behind. There is a huge group of kids who have now canceled two of the last three fairs, first because of the pandemic and now this fire. We really can’t express our gratitude enough to all those people in Southern Oregon who are opening their arms to these kids.
Darrin Mercier, chairman of the 10th District Youth Livestock Auction Committee, said Jackson County and Siskiyou County are committed to ensuring a fair experience as close to normal as possible.
“The bottom line is these kids have already been devastated by COVID, and they finally got out of it, and then this fire happened. Our goal is for every kid who raised an animal to have the opportunity to show and sell this animal at the fair,” Mercier said.
Animals to be shown and auctioned include steers, cows, rabbits, poultry, turkeys, goats, sheep and pigs.
Evans Transportation and the Alturas Indian Reservation signed on to transport families back and forth, Friday through Sunday. Vendors are lining up for meals and volunteers are signing up to help transport animals to The Expo.
“There are other people who are trying to find ways to do some activities at the fairgrounds for these kids to enjoy between events,” Mercier added. “There won’t be the usual carnival or games, so they’re trying to create a couple of fun little things for them to do, just to try to make this as normal an experience as we can.”
Baker said a long history of partnership between the two fairgrounds, which feature similar-sized facilities, is expected to provide an almost “plug and play experience” for the Siskiyou event at The Expo in Central Point.
Organizers expect about 250 children to display animals next weekend.
Baker hopes both counties will show up in droves to support the kids. The auction will be organized in real time and also online.
“I think this shows more and more that the farming community is like a big family. For the two farming communities and the two fairgrounds to come together across state lines is very comforting,” Baker said.
“I hope both communities come out in a big way. I think everyone will realize how much effort it took for these families to be here and for the show to go on. I think everyone will want to get behind these kids in such a way big”.
Mercier said it was “a huge blessing” to receive a backup facility for the children to use.
“CAL-FIRE owns our fairgrounds and we need it to protect our community. But we also have to protect our children.”
To view the livestock auctions online, Saturday at 6pm and Sunday 13-14 August at 10am, see sisqfair.equipmentfacts.com.
For information, see www.sisqfair.com/
Contact Mail Tribune reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or bpollock@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.
