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A 4-H student prepares to show his goat at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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A sign celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Utah State Junior Livestock Show is displayed at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Students show goats at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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A banner of photos celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Utah State Junior Livestock Show is displayed Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Students show goats at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Cattle wait in pens during the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Students walk their cows at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Sheep wait in pens at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Utah State Junior Livestock Show attendees watch the goat show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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A cow waits in a pen at the Utah State Junior Livestock Show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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Utah State Junior Livestock Show attendees watch the goat show in Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Carlene Coombs, Daily Herald

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For the 100th year in a row, students arrived in Spanish Fork for a weeklong stock show where youth displayed the various livestock animals they’ve spent months raising.

The show is the accumulation of hard work for 4-H and FFA students who have spent months raising and training an animal in preparation for competing during the show.

Youths, parents, teachers and community members bustled around the fairgrounds Thursday, preparing animals for upcoming shows, cleaning barn stalls and socializing.

This year’s show is extra sentimental for the community — it’s the 100-year anniversary of when the show first began in Spanish Fork in 1924.

“A bunch of us are super emotional about it because it’s pretty incredible,” said Beau Hunter, Utah State Junior Livestock Show committee member and Timpagonos 4-H Livestock Club leader. “You think about grandparents or great-grandparents that helped found this and were involved in it. There’s a lot of legacy involved and there’s just been a lot of emotion for the last three or four months as we’ve led up to this time.”

In March, the committee held a commemorative dinner to celebrate the generations involved in the show, where they also announced the beginning of a scholarship fund for high school seniors who enter into the show.

Hunter said Snow College has contributed two $1,000 scholarships this year, one to studying agriculture and another for trades.

Tegan Andersen, a ninth grader who has been showing at livestock shows for several years, said being a part of the show has taught him the value of hard work.

“Once you learn how to work hard, you’ll be alright, like, for future jobs,” said Andersen, who is showing a steer this year. “And then learning to care for animals is very important because it’s like learning how to take care of something.”

River Andersen, who raised a pig for the show and also is in ninth grade, said livestock shows and raising animals have taught him responsibility.

“I know that something’s always counting on me, so I have to go down there or else it’ll die,” he said, adding that livestock shows have allowed him to learn about agriculture and build friendships.

Dwight Liddiard, USJLS president, said the show is one of his “favorite weeks of the year” as he gets to see the students’ progress.

“I’ve watched kids from being mini showmen to all the way through and graduating, and it’s fun to watch the progress,” said Liddiard, who has been president for four years and previously was on the board of directors starting in 1996.

According to Liddiard, the show is a great way for students to learn responsibility, and he said showing an animal is a real skill.

“They have to learn about genetics, they have to learn about feeding, they have to learn about the showmanship aspects of it,” he said.

Hunter said, as a 4-H leader, it’s “incredible” to see the youth in his group have the opportunity to compete at the show.

“That’s the most rewarding part is helping a young man or young woman get a project ready and then bring it to the show and exhibit it,” he said.

Hunter said about half of the entries this year were from Utah County, but there were students from about 23 of Utah’s 29 counties who participated.

Friday night will consist of a bouquet and award ceremony, Liddiard said, where about $10,000 worth of prizes will be distributed. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson also is expected to speak, according to her weekly schedule.

The show will conclude Saturday with a livestock sale for students who opted to sell their animals during this show.