Paul Pohlman is the vocational agriculture teacher at Crestview High
School, Heather Gottke is Program Coordinator for 4-H Development at OSU
Extension, and Nick Wolford is a Junior Fair Board advisor. Until a couple of
fairs ago, now retired Lincolnview vo-ag teacher, Tony Campbell, was the fourth
member of the quartet. For the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of spending
the week leading up to Labor Day watching them work with the county’s youth in
putting on a superb junior fair. In addition to their own jobs, they also help
me with mine.
As
a fair veterinarian my responsibilities are two-fold. First is to maintain the
health of all the animals on the fairgrounds, except the racehorses- another
veterinarian, Dr. Kessen, cares for them. Secondly, I’m directed by the Ohio
Department of Agriculture to collect hair and urine samples from the champion
and reserve champion market steer, hog, and lamb. The purpose of this is to
ensure that no banned substances, including antibiotics, hormones, or
anti-inflammatories, enter the food chain.
This year, however, I almost turned down the gig. A bit of a neck
problem, the result of age and accumulated large animal mishaps, left me with
some coordination and mobility issues. I didn’t feel I was up to the task. And I
wasn’t. As it turned out, though, I didn’t have to be. I received a lot of
support, not just from Paul, Heather, and Nick, but from virtually everyone I
encountered.
Fortunately, this year there were no major health matters to deal with,
unlike 2013 when we had the swine influenza scare. There were, however, several
sick calves with respiratory infections. But the cattle people were especially
accommodating of my condition, and even though some of the calves were close to
six-hundred pounds in weight, their owners secured them in such a way that I was
never in danger. Happily, the treatments were successful and their recoveries
uneventful.
As
for the sample collecting, normally my wife helps me. Bonnie will follow one of
the champions as soon as they are chosen, and I’ll follow the other. A missed
opportunity to catch urine could mean a wait for hours until the next chance. To
collect from the steers isn’t much of a problem. To collect from the pigs and
lambs, on the other hand, often requires quick, athletic moves - moves I just
didn’t have any more. Luckily, Amanda Lobsiger, former goat princess and now
veterinary assistant at our hospital, provided those moves for me, and she did
an excellent job.
For
completeness sake, Bonnie insisted that I tell of her exploit. Apparently, as
the champion pig was picked he began to urinate. Bonnie, on the other side of
the ring, raced over and practically made a diving catch of the stream. Although
I didn’t see it, from the reaction of the crowd and Paul’s high-five, it must
have been spectacular.
The
pigs even cooperated for the hair collection. Historically, this has been our
most challenging mission. To clip enough hair from a hog to fill the sample cup
isn’t easy, especially if the hog doesn’t feel obliging. After all the urine was
collected, both hogs, apparently exhausted from the show, laid down to nap,
unbothered by the clippers as we carried forth with our depilating
assignment.
Forty hours after I said good-bye to my three fair amigos, I was on a
surgery table at Cleveland Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital. One of my last thoughts
before the journey to “la la land” was of the fair. I was so grateful to be able
to participate this year, and even prayed I’d make it back in 2016.
I
guess it’s pretty safe to say that I love the Van Wert County Fair. To me it
falls under the category of “the way things should be,” and has provided more
happy memories than any summer camp ever could. If you’ve
never been, I suggest you come next year and enjoy the fair. I’ll see you there.
By Dr. John H. Jones
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