Program will help young ag exhibitors, following Los Banos Fair cancellation

May 1 is celebrated throughout the world, but especially in Los Banos, thanks initially to Henry Miller hosting exuberant May Day picnics dating back to 1890.

So it’s strange to be in Los Banos this year and not be at the May Day Fair, which has been a part of the community for more than a century.

About a month ago the May Day Fair, officially called the Merced County Spring Fair, was canceled to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. It must be strange and disappointing for young people and their leaders in 4-H and FFA not to be showing their animals at the Los Banos Fairgrounds this week.

I feel bad for the young people who purchased an animal in January and began to feed and nurture it, only to be told they can’t go to the fairgrounds to show and more importantly to sell their animals.

But I’m glad to hear that plans have been developed to help these young people. I learned about these plans by going to the Merced County Spring Fair web site and then talking with Fair Manager Jim Clark.

For young people who raised hogs, sheep and goats this year, the Fair has developed the May Day Fair Market Animal Support Program. The program allows anyone to make donations through May 15 to a tax-deductible fund, which will supplement the dollars young people get from the resale of their animals at current market value.

Young people who raised steers and replacement heifers have already benefited from contributions made by May Day Fair community supporters. Their animals have been resold through the Dos Palos Y Auction Yard, with no commission being charged. In addition to what they received in today’s depressed market, each young person will receive $500 from contributions already raised.

The young people who raised pigs, sheep, and goats this year will also have their animals sold at resale. They will receive a supplemental check as well, based on how much money is raised in the Market Animal Support Program.

Owners of pigs have had their animals sold through a private buyer. Owners of sheep and goats will have their animals sold on May 6 at the Dos Palos Y Auction Yard. These young people will be supported by donations in the Market Animal Support Program. The donations, as well as resale proceeds, will be pooled together.

“Once the sales are complete and all the money is collected,” Clark said, “all of the funds will be divided equally among the participants. All commissions are being waived; 100% of all money collected will go to the exhibitor pool.”

Persons wanting to contribute to the Market Animal Support Program can donate by May 15 in one of two ways. They can write a check to the Merced County Spring Fair and mail it to the Fair at 403 F Street, Los Banos, CA 93635. Or they can call the main Fairgrounds number (209-826-5166) and provide their Visa or MasterCard information and donation amount to a fair staff member.

In addition to contributing to the pool, anyone who wants to support individual exhibitors can submit a “bump bid,” which allows a donor to make a tax deductive contribution through the fair system to an individual exhibitor. These bids can be accepted from May 11 to May 15 through the fair office.

I appreciate what the May Day Fair is doing--the entire Fair Board and staff as well as manager Jim Clark — to take care of the young exhibitors and their animals. As Clark said, “We want to make sure the animals are treated humanely and handled expeditiously.”

The help the Fair is providing to young people and their animals eases much of the pain of having the May Day Fair cancelled. “The community has been amazing,” said Clark, “in supporting our young people and the future of agriculture in and around Los Banos.”

On other notes related to these strange coronavirus times:

I’d like to thank the persons whose monetary donations and cooking have provided free meals for Los Banos senior citizens in the last few weeks.

I’d also like to thank Los Banos schools, which have served thousands of meals to hungry school children. These are more examples of the local community stepping up to help others.

I’d like to encourage people in our community who usually gather for religious services to support their churches, financially weakened by the loss of Sunday collections, by making donations through the mail or online.

One example of a church making it easy to donate during these times is St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Los Banos, which has created an icon on its web page, stjosephlosbanos.wordpress.com, by which one-time or weekly donations can be made.

And I’d like to thank the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce and the UC Merced Small Business Development Center for working with local small businesses during these hard times.

I’ve heard several stories of local small business owners who have been frustrated by large banks in their attempts to file for and secure federal loans. I hope this is rectified soon.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 5:00 PM.