August 5 2000 was a day to remember for all 53 children and their parents who took part in Georgia's first youth goat show. All together there were approximately 150 people who attended. Goat ranchers brought extra animals for the children who didn't bring their own and those who were not in the goat business yet, left with a sparked interest in starting one.

The seminar was held in the first half of the day and included topics such as Choosing Your Goat, Examining Your Goat For Signs Of Disease, Confirmation and Structure, Nutrition, Fitting and Grooming, and a Showmanship Demonstration.

After the lunch break the showmanship part of the show began. All the children cheered each other on with just as much enthusiasm for the 1st place winners as for the 5th place winners. In their eyes and the eyes of their parents they were all winners.

This was not a show about winning. The Georgia Meat Goat Association put this event together to encourage Georgia's youth and youth related programs such as 4H to start goat projects. There is so much going on at the present to keep the market going we thought we might do something towards the future. The youth of today will be the ranchers of tomorrow and the little time investment we make today may secure the meat goat industry of the future.

After the showmanship classes the weight classes went to the ring. Once again, the kids cheered each other on regardless of placing and it was a heartwarming sight to see these kids working together is something, I must say, we seasoned goat ranchers need to learn from.

There are so many good folks that pitched in and helped to make this day a success and to all of them a big, big thank you!

Our appreciation to Anton Ward, judge, whose patience and care with these children throughout the classes was very evident and deserves to be commended and his wife Androulla for her support and devotion to her husband's time consuming and demanding task.

Let me not forget those who demonstrated different aspects of the goat industry such as fiber spinning, goat driving, milking, cheese making, grooming and herding. Last but most importantly thank you to the FUTURE MEAT GOAT FARMERS OF AMERICA The stars of our show!