Local businesses are lifeblood in every community

The county junior show premium sale is coming up and I have been thinking about all the people that donate to the kids that make the sale. If you stop and think about it, it’s really fascinating.

There are 107 FFA and 4H students that made the premium sale with their animals. The county junior livestock show was this past week. Students from schools across the county brought their animals and competed in the show.

Cattle, goats, lambs, and hogs were shown and evaluated by a judge. The top animals from each species were selected to be in the premium sale.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, there is a dinner for the students, their families and the sponsors. At 6 p.m., the auction begins.

Each student that made sale will enter the ring one at a time and their animal will be auctioned off. On average, the animals bring a little more than $1,000.

Oh, and the best part, students get to keep their animals after they have been “auctioned.”

There are a lot of local businesses that have donated quite a bit of money each year. They have been helping these kids for as long as I’ve been involved.

Our local banks, car lots, bail bondsmen, feed stores, and the Choctaw Nation help make this event “the big deal” every year for the kids that show.

It’s easy to do some quick math and calculate that our local businesses will give away more than $100,000 Friday evening.

The vast majority of the companies that donate aren’t the Fortune 500 companies, it’s the businesses that are locally owned. They have roots here in the county and they show up big time to support the FFA and 4H students.

This same premium sale is happening in counties all over the United States.

I won’t attempt to name the all the local businesses, because sure enough I will leave someone out.

Over the next few weeks, I would urge everyone to make sure and thank these locallyowned businesses in our community that have supported the premium sale.

I’ve read several studies that say the locallyowned businesses make up more than 90 percent of all new job creation. I would also argue it’s these same businesses that make up 90 percent of charitable donations within the communities they serve.

My hat’s off to all of the people that work to make the county show and premium sale a success.

EDITOR’S NOTE: James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi Mountains in southeast Oklahoma. He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.