CONNOQUENESSING TWP -- For 62 years, volunteers have served as the backbone for the annual Butler Farm Show.

The show is a weeklong event that showcases local agriculture and livestock while providing family friendly entertainment.

This week, about 200 volunteers are working to transform the farm show grounds and empty airplane hangars to hold exhibits such as chicken coops and quilt displays for the show, which starts Monday and runs until Aug. 14.

Laura Ristity grew up attending the farm show and has taken a week of vacation from her job as a pharmacy technician each year for the past 32 years to spend 20 to 30 hours preparing for the show.

For Ristity, though, the show is more than just the cows and tractor pulls.

"The show is a part of my dad," Ristity said.

Her father, Jerry Kriley, was one of the farm show's founders. He passed away 20 years ago.

Few children grow up with dairy cattle like Ristity did, and the farm show gives children the opportunity to see cows and chickens up close.

"I cannot get over that some kids have never touched a cow," Ristity said. "It's amazing to me."

The farm show will feature 1,680 animals competing for small cash prizes.

The small prizes add up, though.

Thirty-two hired judges will award a total of $30,000 to winners of animal, food, craft and other contests, according to Butler County Commissioner James Lokhaiser, who has served as recording secretary for the show for 15 years and also does marketing and advertising for the event. The different contests give people the chance to show the fruits of a year's labor.

"People really take pride in what they are showing," said Judy Sutton, superintendent of the Arts & Crafts committee.

Sutton is a testament to the value families place on the farm show. Her mother and sister, Thelma and Joan Fleeger, volunteer with the farm show, too. The three have volunteered together for more than 20 years.

Thelma Fleeger recruited her daughters to work with her at the farm show.

"Many hands make light work," she said.

So what drives the many helping hands at the farm show?

"It's hard work, but it's fun and rewarding," said Joan Fleeger.

Most volunteers begin work Thursday to help cut chicken wire used for hanging crafts and building and moving risers to help display items, among other tasks.

The hard work of the volunteers helps keep the event affordable.

Admission is $7 for people age 3 and older. Admission to special events, like the annual truck pull, is an additional $4 per event. Patrons also must pay to ride the rides.

Entertainment events, such as a live bear show and concerts, are free.

The number of concerts and entertainment events has risen in recent years.

"We try to update shows, update based on interests, to keep the event family oriented," Sutton said.

Sutton's family works with Ristity in the Arts & Crafts committee.

Ristity also works with the awards committee. Her committee will receive a special hand this year, as Miss Outstanding Teen Pennsylvania Jocelyn Gruber, 17, is slated to attend the awards ceremony.

Gruber will award prizes and also speak to the crowd briefly during the award program at 7 p.m. Aug. 13, said Ken Metrick, secretary of the show's board of directors.

The Butler Farm Show will run from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Aug. 14. For more information, visit www.butlerfarmshow.com.