Justyn Hayes, currently serving as the Fairfield County Pork Queen, will be named Ohio District 10 Pork Queen during the Fairfield County Junior Fair Swine Show on October 14. Justyn, who is a 17 year old senior at Liberty Union High School, is active in the FFA and the Thurston Future Farmers 4-H Club. In 1997 she exhibited the Reserve Grand Champion Carcass Hog in the Fairfield County Junior Swine Show. Other Junior Fair projects have included chickens, rabbits and vegetables. Her high school activities include: National Honor Society, Foreign Language Club, Student Council, Pep Points Committee, softball, golf, volleyball and basketball. Justyn will compete for Ohio Pork Queen during the Ohio Pork Congress in 1999.

Fairfield County Pork Queen Contest - October 11: Young ladies who were between the ages of 16 and 21 on January 1, 1998 are invited to compete for Fairfield County Pork Queen. Participants must live on a swine farm or have had a 4-H or FFA swine project for two years. The county queen will go on to compete in the Distrct 10 Pork Queen contest in September, 1999. Duties of the new queen will include helping at various Fairfield County Pork Committee functions, school presentations, parades, in-store promotions and the like. Young ladies interested in applying for Fairfield County Pork Queen should contact Michelle Black at 614.837.0224.

Market Hog Carcass Program - October 11 for Fairfield County Junior Fair market hog exhibitors: Help weigh-in and ultrasound the kid's hogs at the "Carcass Contest" the local pork producers will be sponsoring for the second year. Last year there were over 150 participants.

PORK 509 - September 9-10 in the meat lab at Ohio State: PORK 509 is an innovative, two-day short-course designed to address factors involved with producing consistent, high quality, wholesome pork at the farm, packing-plant, and retail levels, and to discuss the pork muscle quality attributes that affect processing quality, consumer acceptability, and ultimately, consumer demand for pork products. Inquire about the Fairfield County "scholarships" to PORK 509.

Mt. Pleasant Shoot Out - August 28 at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds (tractor and truck pull): Again, join other local pork producers in promoting our products in cooperation with the Fairfield County Cattlemen. We will also earn some "spare change" to help with future promotional activities.

Ohio State Fair Pork Tent - August 8 in the Food Pavilion: Join other Fairfield County pork producers in promoting pork as we work a shift in the Ohio State Fair Food Pavilion. Contact President Rick Harding (740.467.2773) for tickets and details.

The Ohio Youth Livestock Challenge - July 10 at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds: Serve as a "facilitator" for one of the Skillathon events or the Livestock Judging Contest. Youth from around Ohio as well as our local youth will participate. Call OSU Extension (740.653.5419) for details.