It may have been the cold water, it may have been having to walk to the bath stall, it may just be that McFatterson wasn’t really in the mood to bathe.

Regardless of what his objections actually were, he did, quite loudly, squeal. Squeal like a stuck pig.

Schumacher, a member of the Jackson Pioneers 4-H Club, named her pig what she named her pig for one simple reason.

“Because he’s fat,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Mylie Schumacher, 11, of Lake City, a member of the Jackson Pioneers 4-H Club, works on getting her pig, Fatty McFatterson, ready to show Thursday afternoon at the Calhoun County Expo. McFatterson loudly objected to the cold water.

While McFatterson isn’t exactly svelte, by pig standards, he’s about average.

OK, so he’s fat.

“He just really, really, really likes food,” she said.

She got him after he’d already grown a bit, he was not a tiny piglet.

“He wasn’t super small,” she said. “Like 60 pounds.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Sue Stickrod, of Lohrville, takes a picture of family friend Addy Parker, 4, also of Lohrville, after she got her face painted at the Calhoun County Expo.

Emma Trice, 6, of Manson, was enjoying some time in the cattle barn with her bottle calf, Kea.

Kea became a combination cushion and pillow.

“It’s never let me lay on it before,” she said. “He’s always like leave me alone. Today it’s like ‘I want to love Emma my whole life.”

In the next stall, her friend Eli Dewall, 7, of Palmer, was having much the same experience with his bottle calf, Rambler.

“It’s the first day,” he said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Linda Board, of Manson, at left, along with Linda Hirshberg, of Farnhamville, fill out the tags for their photography entries for the Open Class at the Calhoun County Expo.

Layla, a goat belonging to Abby Langewalter, 9, of Manson, was a pretty uncooperative kid as her brother, Blake Langenwalter, 7, tried to walk it around the fairgrounds.

Both were of the opinion that a dog is much easier to walk than a kid goat.

Their dad, A.J. Langewalter, had a different take on the matter.

“It’s almost as stubborn as the kids,” he joked.

Sue Stickrod, of Lohrville, brought family friend Addy Parker, 4, to the fair for a day of fun.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Lois Irwin, of Lohrville, holds her granddaughter’s horse Thursday afternoon at the Calhoun County Expo in Rockwell City. Her granddaughter, Sophia Wuebker, 11, was changing into her arena attire elsewhere.

Coming to the fair to help create memories for Parker brought back a lot of them for Stickrod.

“When I was young there was a whole carnival,” she said. “I was in dance and we used to perform at the park.”

Of course, things were a rougher go of it then.

“I remember it being a lot hotter than today,” she joked.

Volunteers began checking in Open Class entries Thursday afternoon.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Blake Langenwalter, 7, of Manson, takes a slightly reluctant Layla for a walk around the Calhoun County Expo Thursday. The goat belongs to his sister, Abby Langenwalkter, 9.

Shirley Murley, of Sac City, was one of those helping. Among the Open Class categories, photographs.

“Its been so interesting to see what they take pictures of,” she said.

Samantha Hiler, 8, of Rockwell City, had several images. One of them was a sunrise.

“I think this is gorgeous,” Murley said. “What time was this taken?”

“It was sunrise,” Hiler said.

Hiler’s brother, Warren Hiler, 12, had also brought along a creation.

“I spent five hours to do this picture of a tractor,” he said.

Even without seeing his drawing, it would have been a good guess that it was a John Deere. He wore a cap and a shirt sporting the famous green tractors.

“They work good,” he said.

Each year’s Expo features a baking contest. This year, it’s the Calhoun County Best Brownie contest.

Toni Kerns, of Rockwell City, brought a plate to enter.

“They’re buttermilk brownies,” she said. “It’s my aunt’s recipe. It’s just a plain old brownie except it’s made with buttermilk.”

It’s her first time in the baking contest.

“I thought oh what the heck, I have time,” she said.

Kerns was also the grand marshal for the Wednesday night parade.

“It was fun,” she said. “I’ve been in parades before but usually I’m driving a pickup. I’m not used to being escorted.”

Lois Irwin, of Lohrville, got to hold her granddaughter, Sophia Wuebker’s, 11, horse while she went and changed into her arena clothes. The horse, of course, had a mind of its own and ended up trying to nibble on her shirt, loosing a mouthful of grass in the process, most of which ended up on Irwin.

She’s seen a lot of positive changes in Wuebker as a result of her participation in 4-H and events like the Expo.

“The biggest thing is confidence,” Irwin said. “She’s learned how to answer questions well and speak for herself.”

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