It’s a fair day in Stanwood

STANWOOD — Ronnie Hendrickson took seriously his job as a 4-H herdsman.

On Sunday afternoon at the Stanwood-Camano Community Fair, Ronnie looked after 43 caged goats, answered lots of questions posed by passers-by and kept his broom in motion sweeping the goat barn.

Ronnie, 15, of Bryant, has been showing goats at the fair since he was 8 years old. Someday, he said, he’ll be a dairy goat farmer.

A home-schooled student, Ronnie is the son of Katharine and Ron Hendrickson. At their 20-acre farm north of Arlington, the family raises a herd of 60 dairy goats and is working on obtaining licensing that will allow commercial sales of their goat cheese, milk and ice cream, Ronnie said.

For the Hendrickson family, the Stanwood-Camano Fair, which ran Friday to Sunday, is a nice warm-up to the Evergreen State Fair, which begins Aug. 21 in Monroe.

“The Stanwood fair is great because it’s smaller and it’s just down the road,” Ronnie said. “I like hanging out with my friends, eating the cheeseburgers and listening to the entertainment.”

It doesn’t hurt either that Ronnie won numerous prize ribbons for his work with a couple of his goats, a La Mancha goat named Precious and a Nubian goat named Audacious.

Also picking up some ribbons Sunday were Katie Nickels, 17, and Anna Dolan, 16, who are members of the Stanwood High School Future Farmers of America.

The duo performed with their cows in a display of synchronized moo-vement during a special open-class animal costume contest.

They weren’t swimming, but Katie and Anna donned shower caps for the event. Their cows, a Jersey and a Holstein both named Patty, wore swimming goggles and beach towels.

“I did this last year,” Katie said, “and they asked us to come back and perform again.”

Ronnie said he plans to be back at the Stanwood-Camano Community Fair next year.

“It’s a lot of fun for families involved in agriculture and, really, for anyone,” he said.

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.