The Shoop family, friendly farmers who love 4-H.

Andrea Shoop washes her sheep in preparation of the Western Michigan Fair.

The #WesternMichiganFair takes place August 9-13, 2016. Mason County Press, along with the Western Michigan Fair Association, presents this series of videos and stories about the fair. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief. 
AMBER TOWNSHIP — The Shoop siblings – AmyGrace, Jacob, Andrea, and Audra — are part of the Free Soil Friendly Farmers 4-H group, which was started by their grandmother, Lucy Knizacky, over 50 years ago. They say they look forward to fair every year and being part of 4-H has helped them with some valuable life lessons.

“Being part of 4-H teaches us responsibility,” says AmyGrace, 20, who is in her last year of 4-H. “We have to get up every morning and feed our animals and then we also have to feed them at night. We give up a lot to be involved in the fair, but we love it.”

Their mother, Theresa Shoop, says that a few years ago the kids had a choice of going on vacation or going to fair. They chose the fair.

“Vacation is only two weeks, getting ready for fair is several months,” says Audra, 14. “It takes up most of our time in the summer but we really enjoy it. Two weeks before the fair we are really in fair mode. We have to wash all the buckets, get the animals ready, get ready for the show ring, check our washing supplies and practice with the animals every day.”

The Shoops keep chickens and rabbits year round but only take care of sheep and pigs from March through fair.

The fair takes place Aug. 9 – 13, 2016.