Pueblo – Bailey Wise said she wanted to go out with a bang during her final year in 4-H.
The 18-year-old did just that Tuesday, as her grand champion lamb sold for $24,500 during the Junior Livestock Sale at the Colorado State Fair.
The sale price for Wise’s lamb, Rockstar, topped the price paid for last year’s champion by more than $10,000.
She said she was going to use the money to help pay for college tuition and her other animals’ feed.
Wise, who had the reserve champ each of the past three years, said she was glad to end her 4-H career with a winner.
“It’s been a lot of fun and a great experience,” she said.
The animals were auctioned off Tuesday to groups such as the CSU Wranglers, Friends of the Fair and the Denver Rustlers, a group of prominent business and political leaders from the capital city.
The groups received noteworthy attention when they stepped off the buses at the fairgrounds, with a band playing and a red carpet rolled out.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, dressed in bluejeans and a cowboy hat, was on hand alongside the Denver Rustlers, who spent more than $120,000.
“We are not just giving money away,” he said. “We are rewarding these kids for their hard work, and it’s a way to help out the State Fair.”
Hickenlooper called members of the Rustlers group civic leaders with big hearts.
These buying groups boost the money raised for the youths who raise the animals.
“If it wasn’t for us, these animals would go for $5,000,” said Jake Jabs of American Furniture Warehouse.
Jabs – along with fellow Denver Rustlers William Dean Singleton, publisher of The Denver Post, and Richard Sapkin of the Edgemark Co. and Richardson Homes – purchased the grand champion steer for $45,000.
Singleton said his agricultural roots give him a special bond with the young livestock entrepreneurs.
“I did exactly what they do,” he said. “I know the work and effort it takes.”
Rustlers members agreed that the friendly competition increased the final bidding on the animals.
“Competition is the spice of life,” Jabs said.
More than 100 animals were sold Tuesday for a total of about $312,000, fair officials said.
Dillon Blyth, 11, sold his grand champion hog for $17,500 to Pueblo businessman Sam Brown.
Blyth’s stepfather, Larry Kaylor, said he encourages his children to get involved in 4-H because it brings the whole family together.
Most of the young people at the fair said they were going to set aside the money they earned Tuesday to help pay for college.
Sarah Stover, who plans to attend Ohio State University this fall to study animal science, was the owner of Bulletproof, the grand champion steer.
Like Wise, she said she couldn’t think of a better way to spend her last year in 4-H.
“It was a nice way to go out,” Stover said.
