Virtual graduation ceremonies, virtual weddings, virtual funerals and virtual sports. It seems to virtually be a new virtual world. In each and every example it is a virtual certainty that the new way is a sorry and less enjoyable way of doing the activity, but it is what we have in 2020.

You have to give credit for the ingenuity which some people are devising to have some sort of celebration of milestones which we have always taken for granted. We have drive-by birthday parties. We have zoom church services and now that graduation season is here the yards are being decorated with signs meant to replace walking across the stage and shaking the principal’s hand.

Not exactly the way most imagined that moment. The same would be said for the 40- year retirement party and the wedding reception that is missing the 300 guests that were always supposed to attend.

Most of the summer fun has been cancelled, from fireworks to parades to swimming pools and concerts. Gone is the Regatta (Pittsburgh and Moraine), the Arts Festival (Pittsburgh and Saxonburg), road races and many fund drive activities.

One of the last holdouts might be the 72nd annual Butler Farm Show. Scheduled for the second week of August, it has a little bit of time before having to announce a decision. But one aspect of the Farm Show really has a difficult time trying to find a substitute way of moving forward. That would be the 4-H Livestock Auction. Talk about a classic event.

The livestock auction has featured the 4-H kids, and their animals which they have raised, every Thursday of Farm Show week for what seems like forever. It is the culmination of a year of hard work and dedication to raising a living creature, and it is done by kids as young as 10 years old.

It is an absolute pleasure to sit in the stands and watch these kids handle the animal they have brought to auction, and handle the crowd as well. The crowd enjoys seeing the well-groomed and disciplined livestock paraded around the sales pen. They also adore the occasional rambunctious or ornery goat, hog, or steer that just won’t cooperate with this idea that he is showing off for the sake of becoming someone’s supper.

But mostly we are there to show our appreciation for the hard work these kids have done to get to the final point of sale for their livestock. And even the post-sale rituals of coming into the crowd to thank the buyers and show the maturity of graciously releasing the animal they have loved and treated so well being led off to, well, to become supper.

This auction raises a tremendous amount of money for these 4-H kids. Most intend for the sale money to help finance their future educations. Younger ones plan to use this year’s proceeds to buy new stock to raise next year and repeat history. Many years the Champion animals are sold at crazy prices. If the friendly competition between buyers becomes a rivalry, the price will skyrocket.

The champion steer can and has sold for $50,000, which puts a serious dent in the cost of a college education for these farm families. How do you replace that kind of generosity aimed at these kids? Someone needs to be working on this now to avoid this being a completely lost year for the 4-H Scholarship program.

This is a critical time as the kids are ramping up the program meant to bring the animals to optimum weight and appearance for top value. Right now they don’t know if they will have a chance to show and tell the potential champions they have raised.

Amusement rides and demolition derbies are lots of fun, but the real Farm Show is about these 4-H kids and the families that support them and the learning experience they get each year.

Maybe virtual is the only way to hold this year’s auction, but we are hoping someone can somehow put a program together that can give some sort of justice to the efforts put forth by these young people.