ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JANET HAMOUS
“DO Touch the Animals” will be the decree at the FFA Petting Zoo open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on “Family Day” at this year’s Marion County Fair.
The new Saturday event is designed to give people, particularly city folks, a chance to see and touch animals they might not normally encounter.
“It’s going to have a variety of farm and non farm animals,” said Tim Kilgore, FFA sponsor and agricultural education instructor at Hillsboro High School.
Kilgore said arrangements are still being made for the animals, but they expect to have a miniature horse, a full-grown horse, a small calf, baby pigs, baby chicks, kittens, sheep and goats.
“We’re going to set it up where all the animals will be as tame as they can possibly be, and they’ll be able to interact,” he said.
FFA members will manage the event.
“There’s a possibility it won’t just be FFA kids from Hillsboro, but from around the county,” Kilgore said. “I think it will be a good activity for us, because I have a lot of FFA kids involved in 4-H who will have animals at the fair anyway.”
Kilgore said most of the animals would come from FFA members or their relatives.
The zoo will be set up outside in a fenced-in area, “hopefully under a shade tree,” Kilgore said. “If it’s something that goes well, it’s something we can continue in the future.”
Petting zoo planned for fair’s ‘Family Day’
