Jessie Vonhelms, 11, and Molly Dittmer, 9, took their goats, Trouble and Rhapsody, out from their pens at the Lake County Fair Wednesday morning just before the judging began.
And like the kids that they are, the goats romped and ran away from their charges — finally settling down and nuzzling each other.
Wednesday morning marked the beginning for both the fair and the judging of various farm animals, including goats, pigs, cows, sheep and chickens brought by youngsters and adults.
Throughout the many barns on the fairgrounds in Grayslake, roosters crowed, pigs grunted and sheep and goats bleated as young girls and boys — some members of Lake County 4-H clubs — brushed, cleaned and prepared their animals for judging.
Trouble and Rhapsody are twins born last year. Jessie bought Trouble and Molly bought Rhapsody at last year’s fair. They each bought another goat, and Jessie bought two goats at the 2015 fair.
Jessie, now a seasoned goat herder, registered her four goats in 15 judging classes at the fair this year — with Molly, registered to show her goat at the Lake County Fair for the first time, following in her friend’s boot steps.
“I love goats because they’re really fun,” said Jessie. “They’re always climbing and I like to climb.” She purchased all four of her goats — Trouble, Maple, Friskie and Zahara — as kids, with her own money.
“Every day, if it’s sunny, you can bring them out, and they follow you everywhere, which I like,” said Jessie, who lives on a farm in Ingleside.
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Her father, John Vonhelms, said, “Goats are funny. They’re just like little kids. They’re always getting out of the pens and doing general mischief.”
But he’s fine with that, because he and his wife, Dixie Vonhelms, believe showing goats at the fair teaches Jessie responsibility, commitment and poise.
“It’s fabulous what she’s learned,” said Dixie Vonhelms, who showed horses at the Lake County Fair when she was young. “All the kids become friends and help each other,” she said, and Jessie has taken her goats to local community groups and talked about them.
Jessie tells people, “Goats don’t really eat people’s clothing. They just nibble.” She also describes running around with them. “The reaction on their faces is so funny,” she said.
Molly’s mother, Cindy Dittmer, said the family had one old goat, a pet they kept in their Mundelein yard until last year, when they purchased two goats. Now Molly helps care for Cotton, Speckles and Rhapsody.
She and her mom have learned not only how much fun it is to have goats, but also how much work it takes. “We’re very new at this. Were trying to learn from Jessie,” said Cindy.
The goats need to be fed daily, of course. Jessie makes leaf tacos by cutting up plants and mulberries and wrapping them in a large leaf, which the goats devour.
“Their favorite food is mulberries,” Jessie said. “They even like the branches.”
But along with the daily feeding come other chores. “We learned we need to groom them, trim their nails, clean their ears and clean their butts” to get them ready to be shown, Cindy said. “We didn’t know we had to do all that.”
And decisions need to be made — do they breed the goats so they can be entered in the goat-milking class at next year’s fair? Cindy’s not sure she’s ready for that, but Dixie said she’s thinking they’ll breed at least one of Jessie’s goats and sell the youngsters at next year’s fair.
The first goat judging was the “pet” class, in which Jessie entered Maple. She stood in line with about 10 contestants, each holding onto their goats, some with greater ease than others. One of the tiniest goats bleated and scrambled to get out of its owner’s grip. But it soon settled down. Maple, who can be rambunctious, stood quietly next to Jessie.
Once all the goats and their owners were in a circle in the arena, judge Cheryl Landeck stood in the middle to look at all the eager eyes of the goats and their owners.
She then visited each individually, asking the goat’s name and why it makes a good pet. She also stroked the goat’s chins and examined their hides.
When Landeck came to Nora Burns, a Round Lake Beach 17-year-old, her 7-year-old goat, Bam Bam, lifted his chin to snuggle next to her face. When Landeck came to Jessie’s goat, Maple, she scratched underneath his chin and he lifted his head for more.
After reviewing all the goats and their owners, Landeck said all deserved blue ribbons, but it came down to three that might be named the grand champion. Maple was one of them. So was Bam Bam.
“It’s a close play,” Landeck said, but the grand champion was Bam Bam. Maple came in second, winning the reserve grand championship ribbon.
“I’m so happy. I didn’t expect this,” Jessie said, as her nonplussed goat stood quietly waiting to be photographed.
Jessie went on to 14 more competitions, winning more blue ribbons, but her mom said, “I don’t think she really cares so much about the ribbons.”
She thinks Jessie just loves being around goats and other people who love animals, saying, “I think she’ll always have goats.”
The Lake County Fair continues through Sunday with live music, carnival rides, tractor pulls, a beer garden, monkey and pig races, a rodeo, a demolition derby, a Lake County trivia contest and more.
For more information, visit https://lcfair.com/.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
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