***All photos copyright Meegan M. Reid,  Herald Journal.***

With only 24 days until the 2008 Cache County Fair, it was crunch time for two lambs named Lovey and Gabbi. While fellow 4-Hers were walking their pigs, steer and lambs around the block, owners Sage Mascaro, 13, and Jaymie Durrant, 13, ran their sheep through a course of hurdles made out of paint cans and wooden planks.

“We have to do it to train them to get bigger muscles and to get them in shape so they are ready for the fair,” said Sage. “We thought that making them jump hurdles would be better than just walking them around the neighborhood.”

“My lamb has ADHD,” joked Jaymie, as Lovey refused to jump over the hurdles and walked around in circles.

As Paradise neighbors and friends, Jaymie and Sage ventured into the lamb-raising business together. They joined “Paradise’s Heavenly Herd” 4-H Club and on May 5 traveled to Mike Summers’ sheep ranch in Thatcher. It was there they made the difficult decision of which lambs they were going to take home.

“Well, I looked for a cute one,” explained Jaymie, “and I kind of wanted a big loin because that’s the most expensive cut.”

The young women agree it’s hard work raising a lamb. There are strict feeding schedules, grooming, stall cleaning and having to constantly work with them to get them ready for showing — all things that can cut into a relaxing summer vacation. But raising the lambs together helped with the work load.

“We would always cover for each other if we had to do something with our family,” said Sage.

As the Cache County Fair rolled around, Gabbi and Lovey were in top form. They were given one final scrub and polish before they headed into the ring for showing.

“I’m hoping that she will behave,” said Jaymie, as she lined up with Lovey.

“I don’t know if she (Gabbi) will get a blue but she’ll do pretty good,” said Sage, as she waited to enter the ring.

As the fair wound down and the ribbons were all awarded (none for Lovey or Gabbi) it was time for the 4-H Livestock Auction. Nervous 4-H members lined up to enter the arena full of buyers with the animals they had loved and nurtured through the summer. For most livestock it was “the end of the line,” but a few found themselves heading back out to pasture.

“I’m not very sad because I’m going to buy her back and she’s going to come home with me!” said Sage.

Lovey was auctioned off for $200. Her fate is unknown.

The sound of bagpipes filled the morning air as athletes donned their kilts and converged on the grounds of the Smithfield Stake Center. They came from as far away as Idaho Falls to compete in the First Annual Sons of Thor Highland Games.

Founder of the games and leader of the local Sons Of Thor throwing club, Ken Graves has big hopes for the future of the games in Smithfield.

“Hopefully we’ll make it a really big event for Cache Valley, especially with all the Scottish ancestry that settled here, ” said Graves.

The games consist of nine events ranging from tossing a stone to heaving a giant Caber (a tree or pole that is between 16-22 feet long and between 100 and 180 pounds). For some it was just another day to compete, for Smithfield resident Tyler Barfuss it was his first foray into the games.

“I live near Ken, and he said, ‘Hey, let’s go do this,’ and I was like, ‘What you toss stones and stuff?’” explained Barfuss who was wearing a kilt his wife had made him.

“The whole thing about the games is camaraderie. I love coming down and competing. Winning medals and stuff is great, but the main reason I throw is for the fun of it, to try to beat my scores from last year or the last games that I was at. But every now and then you have some of your friends that you really like to have the bragging rights when you can tell them ‘Hey, I beat you,’” explained Ken Graves before he bounded off to participate in the Weight for Distance event.

For Ken’s 14-year-old son Matthew it was more of a matter of honor to compete in the games.

“I’m just trying not to embarrass myself too much,” he said with a sheepish grin.

For spectators it’s tough to watch Highland Games without that age old question popping into one’s mind: What does one wear beneath a kilt?

“Traditionally what I’ve heard is that when you’re married then you wear your bloomers, when you’re not you don’t,” laughed Ken Graves.

“For athletics we are required to wear shorts (underneath the kilt),” said Dave Fahey, of Idaho Falls, with a smile.

“ Stupefy!”

“Expelliarmus!”

The casting of spells drift out of the library at Hillcrest Elementary School as a pair of muggles, brandishing wands and dressed in graduation robes, stand on a table. No it’s not Halloween, it’s just a group of students dueling while taking part in teacher Reed Olson’s Hogwarts Academy.

“I started the Harry Potter camp because there were some kids in my class that just would not put these books down and finally I ended up reading them and thought, ‘This is great’,” said Olson. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen kids carry books around like they’re little babies. They just love them and take them places. As a teacher, that’s what you want them to do. I just thought, what better way to keep kids engaged during the summer than to have a camp.”

For five weeks, students lived and breathed the world of their favorite literary characters. They dressed in robes, they carried wands and they studied the subjects that all witches and wizards study while they attend Hogwarts; Defense Against The Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Care Of Magical Creatures and Astronomy.

“I really liked Potions and Herbology, because in Herbology we got to rip up plants and get the juice and gookey stuff out of them,” said Lexie Hart, 9. For Jaycen Hill, 9, it wasn’t just astronomy class that he enjoyed, but also “playing games and watching movies and learning a lot of cool stuff about Harry Potter.”