Montgomery County 4-H member Billie Benson took home the top prize in the State Fair of Texas market barrow division.
The State Fair of Texas opened Sept. 25 and continues through Oct. 18 in Dallas’ Fair Park. The 24-day event, dating to 1886, showcases agriculture, education and Texas culture.
Exhibitors come from across the state to participate in livestock shows and judging on the grounds.
Benson has been showing livestock for five years.
“When she’s not in the show ring with her pigs, she loves playing volleyball and riding horses, and she dreams of attending Texas A&M to become a veterinarian,” according to the announcement.
Her parents are Jamie and Blaze Benson. Billie’s brother Dash, also showed a pig in the market barrow competition.
Seeing his grandchildren compete at the State Fair of Texas brought back special memories for Kenneth Cole as he returned to the fair for the first time in 30 years.
“As a child, we went to the fair every year,” Cole wrote in a Facebook post. “It was the one day that my parents took us out of school for the day. My parents told the story of how my mother went to the fair when she was eight months pregnant with me in 1951. They would say that I went to the fair before I was born.”
Funds raised on auction day go to the youth exhibitors, with remaining proceeds supporting the Big Tex Scholarship Program.
The Houston Chronicle has reached out to the State Fair of Texas for more information.