Accusations of cheating at fairs

[BH Showcattle]

This is the first time I have posted a thread, but would like your input as to this situation with my county fair.

This past winter I was approached to be a beef club leader by a young lady that purchased a steer from me. The only members in the club were the young lady and her cousin. Since I live in the county I agreed.

The young lady’ was honored with Champion steer on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday morning we got to the fair and saw fair board members sleeping on benches surrounding the steer.  We went to the office to find out what was going on. We found out that a complaint had been made stating that 10 minutes before the show we took the steer out to the trailer and switched him with another steer then switched him back after the show.

According to the fair’s own complaint policy it is required that a written statement must be submitted for a complaint and $100 must be put down. If the complaint is validated the complainee gets the money back , if it is false the money goes to the fair. The rules also state that the official complaint documents will be kept in the fair office to be reviewed by those involved and the person that the complaint was made against has 10 days to file an appeal.

The exhibitor and her mother spoke with the fairboard president and asked to see who had made the complaint and the president refused.

As the day progressed, rumors began spreading like wild fire about what was going on. Exhibitors were calling the girl a cheater and almost everyone shut off communication with her. Also, the fairboard is equipped with walkie talkies that they were talking freely about the situation on. The walkie talkies can be heard by anyone within an ear shot. Wednesday evening, the day of the steer sale, a potential buyer approached the girl asking if the steer was going to sell, because they had heard it has been pulled from the sale.

The girl was extremely upset and went to the fair office with her mother to see what was being done. The fairboard president said nothing and a meeting was called with the girl and the complaint committee. In this meeting, it was discovered that no complaint was actually filed and the fairboard acted on rumors.

When the fairboard was asked to apologize they refused, because they do not feel anything has been done wrong.

What do you think should be done? Do you have any ideas on how to handle the fairboard?

 

[cowman 52]

This crap has been going on since alley oop took a dinosaur to the fair in 10000 bc.  DON'T  worry  over it- I know it's tough but there will always be some parent- I rarely ever see a kid start the garbage-  that just because their little johnny or susie did not tend to his home work-- and thats where winning starts-- they want to blame every body else for their short comings.  You will hear eventually who started the rumors and the best way to handle that is privately. The best way to put a stop to it is bring a better one next year.  THAT REALLY p****s them off.  Welcome to stock shows

 

[BH Showcattle]

Oh i know what happens at cattle shows ive been workin cattle for almost 20 years but its the first time ive had to deal with this as a leader and you can bet we will be back with not 1 but 2 steers and try to win both.

 

[showstud]

Im SO glad to hear that this crap happens in other counties than ours!! Like you said it is never the kids just the parents, who are supposed to be the adults in the matter, are victumizing the children. People need to grow up and tend to there own business and keep their noses out of other peoples!! But i guess we need to just stick to the old motto "If they aint talking about you, you ain't making a difference!!" Tell the girl that it will blow over and to be stong everybody hates the Champion!!!

 

[Show Dad]

Go to whoever appoints the fair board. In my county that is the county commissioners.  Just go to a commission meeting and have you a couple of witnesses to what happened. Invite the press to be there too. When the young lady is testifying it will make good drama and bad press will bring pressure for change. Ask that there be a public accounting for the actions of the fair board. That should straighten it out. Better yet tell the commissioners that there should be a few resignations or an apology in writing and published in the paper of record.

 

[PLKR]

This crap has been going on since alley oop took a dinosaur to the fair in 10000 bc.  DON'T  worry  over it- I know it's tough but there will always be some parent- I rarely ever see a kid start the garbage-  that just because their little johnny or susie did not tend to his home work-- and thats where winning starts-- they want to blame every body else for their short comings.  You will hear eventually who started the rumors and the best way to handle that is privately. The best way to put a stop to it is bring a better one next year.  THAT REALLY p****s them off.  Welcome to stock shows

You hit the nail on the head!!!  We just finished our first County Fair--what a deal... Our daughter had a very successful week at a very competitive Fair. By the end of the week the crap we heard was so funny it was ridiculous, including that our pigs cost $1000 each when in fact they were purchased at public auction for $200, $225, and $275.  You are exactly right about the people complaining instead of working with their livestock so they can be competitive! Our daughter put in countless hours working with her cattle and pigs--and it paid off.  We spent 8 days at the Herf Jr. National Show earlier in July, and I can assure you there was more complaining at our County Fair than at the JNHE, despite the rather large difference in numbers of cattle and people involved at each...

 

[Show Heifer]

You can handle this two ways (depending on your personality, and the girls family).

1. Ignore it. Rumors are started daily and soon another will pop up that is more interesting.

OR

2. Go to the local press and TV.  Take a reporter/TV crew to the next fair board meeting.  MAKE SURE YOU CALL AHEAD AND GET ON THE ADGENDA. Just tell them you want to discuss it, do not tell them the press is coming. That way, they can not deny you time at the meeting.  When you arrive at the meeting, expect the fair board to be upset you brought the press and do whatever they can do avoid this situation. FORCE THE ISSUE.
It is best to give the press your side of the story BEFORE YOU GET THERE. That way, they can compare that to the story the fair board tells, without getting "rebuttal points" from your side.
Have them go first.  The best isn't stupid, they will read between the lines, and ask appropiate questions!
    Tips: Do not get mad.
            Do not get personal, unless you have very strong proof it was a personal complaint.
            Keep your story straight forward and substainciated. (No rumors in YOUR story)
             Thank the press after the meeting, AND invite them to cover next years fair from start to last ribbon.
            Take paper facts (such as your purchase recepti if that was in question.) Judges comments if you can get them.
Another point: Do not say "if the complainer would work with their livestock instead of complaining......"  That makes you look like a complainer just like them, only worse, because then your a sore WINNER and not a sore loser. Stick with the facts and you will be fine.
Good luck.
           

 

[box6rranch]

I absolutely would push the issue and force the board to extend an apology, however you have to do it. Make sure that the apology is posted whether in a newspaper or monthly county 4-H newsletter. A similar (not involving a cow) thing happened to my daughter. People who ran the livestock judging team and our extension office operated off of rumors on something my daughter supposedly did. We tried to ignore it, act appropriately on it and nothing did any good. We finally pushed it to a meeting with all parents, coaches and extension agent. The truth came out and it was actually a parent who had started the whole thing. Even after that no official apologies were ever made to my daughter. It changed her world!!! She had a miserable 4 years in high school. She tried to participate in FFA but there was and is a girl who has continued to make her life a living hell and has turned several people against my daughter. Thank god she lived through it and graduated this year and doesn't have to be around people like that anymore. DO IT A.S.A.P.!!!!!!! Oh if we had it to do again we so would have done it differently.  If you and her parents don't stand by her, who will?

 

[justintime]

In a previous thread, it was mentioned that sports stars should not be considered to be role models for kids. I think many parents of kids that show livestock, could be considered the same way! I have seen more than my share of small minded, jealous parents. Many mean well, but just don't seem to be able to stay out of a good gossip session.

This reminds me of an incident I experienced several years ago. We had just got out first calf crop off a new herd sire, and I started to hear rumors from some visitors, that the talk was that our new bull was a crossbred, and that he should have his papers pulled. My dad and I just had a pretty good chuckle about it, and dad said ' we finally must be doing something right, as they are talking  about us". We bred as many cows to this bull as we could that year. That was almost 30 years ago, and we still sell semen from that so called crossbred bull every year.

 

[yuppiecowboy]

I dont care if it is Louisville or a remote county fair with 6 head, it is almost a given that there will be drama of some sort from rumors and accusations. Rarely in offical form, mind you, but the beer tent jury couldnt enjoy the fair without it.

It ammuses me to witness, and few things bring me satisfaction as much as knowing the facts and ruining the day of the gossiper who ecstatically hisses the story that they know to be true.

Just yesterday I was talking to a good friend of mine who was lamenting that X county was just becoming impossible to compete in, and that the champion steer had cost 15k, and what an outrage it was that to win a 4h show you had to spend that much, blah blah.

When I informed my pal that the calf in question had cost $1250, he called me a naive idiot who didnt know the facts like he did. I let him ramble for a while, digging a deeper hole, before calmly asking if a copy of the cashed check from the kids dad was sufficient or if we needed to pull dna from the cow as well.

I dont know what was more amusing, the stunned look of actual dissapointment, or how he then lit up with glee, frantically calling people to tell them how stupid they were and that HE had the facts, and that they should be ashamed of spreading ridiculous rumors.

The sad part of this is when kid did nothing wrong at all, and are still naive to the whims of human nature are negatively affected. A rumor like that could turn off potential bidders at the sale, as well as just be hurtful.

My suggestion is to do it right, do it well, and take the scarlet brand of slander as a badge of honor to be worn as a proud symbol of achievement.

 

[SWMO]

Welcome to the world of county fairs.  As long as you don't win everyone loves you. ;D  But win for a couple of years and

 

[ZNT]

It seems to me, the smaller the show, the more pettiness and complaining that takes place.  There are a lot of people that never go beyond the county fair level, so these same people like to make county out to be  the king of all shows.  If people are complaining and spreading rumors about you, then you must be winning and must be doing something right.  My best memory of county was when a family that did LOTS of complaining and gossiping about the winners at county finally did something right and won.  The next year, they were just SHOCKED at all the nasty lies that were going around about them.  HAHA  What goes around comes around.

Years ago, I actually had a show superintendant go as far as disqualify our steer out of a show after we where awarded Grand Champion, then when given the reason why, he said we did not meet the show requirement, then proceeded to award our buckle to his nephew.  At the next fair board meeting, when questioned about the situations by the board, the superintendant had the nerve to tell them that the wrong calf won, and the right calf lost.  Then the fair board asked to see the rules for qualification for the show, and the superintendent said there were none, but he would put some together for the next meeting.  Yes, that really happened, and nothing was done to rectify the situation.  Our redemption was continuing to do even better, and proceed to higher levels with success.

My advise is to either just come back next year and whoop them all again, or just move on to the state or national level.  Not saying there isn't drama at the higher levels, but it sure seems to get less and less.

 

[bart22]

You can handle this two ways (depending on your personality, and the girls family).

1. Ignore it. Rumors are started daily and soon another will pop up that is more interesting.

OR

2. Go to the local press and TV.  Take a reporter/TV crew to the next fair board meeting.  MAKE SURE YOU CALL AHEAD AND GET ON THE ADGENDA. Just tell them you want to discuss it, do not tell them the press is coming. That way, they can not deny you time at the meeting.  When you arrive at the meeting, expect the fair board to be upset you brought the press and do whatever they can do avoid this situation. FORCE THE ISSUE.
It is best to give the press your side of the story BEFORE YOU GET THERE. That way, they can compare that to the story the fair board tells, without getting "rebuttal points" from your side.
Have them go first.  The best isn't stupid, they will read between the lines, and ask appropiate questions!
    Tips: Do not get mad.
            Do not get personal, unless you have very strong proof it was a personal complaint.
            Keep your story straight forward and substainciated. (No rumors in YOUR story)
             Thank the press after the meeting, AND invite them to cover next years fair from start to last ribbon.
             Take paper facts (such as your purchase recepti if that was in question.) Judges comments if you can get them.
Another point: Do not say "if the complainer would work with their livestock instead of complaining......"  That makes you look like a complainer just like them, only worse, because then your a sore WINNER and not a sore loser. Stick with the facts and you will be fine.
Good luck.
           

With all of the problems in our industry, I'm not sure any bad press is a good idea. Especially over something as silly as this. I would handle it in house behind closed doors with the fair board. You can suggest that you are thinking about involving the press to the board and probably get the same results as actually doing it.This way there is no negative publicity for your agricultural event. They definitely owe the girl an apology, but sometimes you have to think about the big picture and not stoop to their level.

 

[Jill]

We can't even get the TV and press to come out to cover the Grand Drive at the state fair, I don't think you would get them to come for a county fair run by volunteers, but I agree bad press is something none of us can really afford

 

[afhm]

If the sale hasn't happened yet.  Try to get a fairboard president to admit their mistakes over the micmwhen the kid brings the calf into the sale ring.

 

[Show Heifer]

Turning a blind eye to bad situations in our industry doesn't make it right, in fact, it just gives the opposition more ammunition because we can not regulate our own.

But, this IS coming from an industry that openly admits "if you can't beat them, join them" in a post about abusing an animal by injecting it with air. Pathetic. 

 

[knabe]

According to the fair’s own complaint policy it is required that a written statement must be submitted for a complaint and $100 must be put down. If the complaint is validated the complainee gets the money back , if it is false the money goes to the fair. The rules also state that the official complaint documents will be kept in the fair office to be reviewed by those involved and the person that the complaint was made against has 10 days to file an appeal.

what happened to the $100?

what's the status of the review by everyone involved?

to me, these shows are similar to having an unobtainable role model.  do the best you can. 

cheating, or worrying too much about cheating robs time from more productive endeavors.

all cheating does is desensitize one and cheat satisfaction.

 

[BH Showcattle]

First off Thank You all for some great advice. The fairboard did not even take the 100 dollars as they acted on rumors instead of an official complaint and the status of the reveiew is they have till next sunday to produce the paperwork. I agree turning a blind eye is not the way to go in this case as i stated this is not the first time this fair has acted on rumors instead of hard facts and ruined someones fair and tarnished there reputation. As also mentioned we will be taking not 1 but 2 steers back and try for both holes.

 

[bart22]

Turning a blind eye to bad situations in our industry doesn't make it right, in fact, it just gives the opposition more ammunition because we can not regulate our own.

But, this IS coming from an industry that openly admits "if you can't beat them, join them" in a post about abusing an animal by injecting it with air. Pathetic. 

Okay, because calling the press in over a little girl having rumors spread around about her is "regulating our own". I wouldn't compare this issue to abusing animals either.

 

[knabe]

If the sale hasn't happened yet.  Try to get a fairboard president to admit their mistakes over the micmwhen the kid brings the calf into the sale ring.

they probably won't admit "their" mistake, but that an investigation was made and nothing happened or something to that effect.  the key here is to remove guilt from you, rather than worry about guilt of them.  i like your solution.

apologizing just really isn't that popular anymore. and the energy to get people to do it is not worth it sometimes.  better to address that with the ballot box or participation.