Guadalupe County Youth Show organizers planning ahead
(Seguin) – Organizers of this year’s Guadalupe County Youth Livestock and Homemakers Show are working to solicit new buyers for next week’s annual show.
This might include those of you who have moved into the area, have started a new business, or friends and family of new exhibitors.
Megan Reiley, the co-secretary for the youth show board of directors, says while area youth are preparing their animals or gathering up the ingredients for the homemaking portion of the show, organizers want to walk new buyers through the process of supporting area youth.
“So, for those new buyers, the biggest thing you have to do is you have to register to be a buyer. It’s a very easy process on our website, www.gcys.org. We have a link front and center on the front page to register as a buyer.
It’s just going to collect simple information like mailing info, email address so that once you do purchase, we can send you a bill later on,’ said Reiley.
Reiley says local businesses are among the groups that might want to get in on the action.
“For those businesses, this is a great tax write off. We do not discriminate. Any amount of money is wonderful for us. We have some businesses that will do $50 on exhibitors, and we have some businesses that will do $100,000. If you want to donate money to this but you don’t know someone individually, we can do that for you. We have a lot of businesses that will just cut us a check for $2,500 and we do that bidding for them. For businesses that do know who they want to put money on – a lot of businesses will say, we have a ton of employees who have kids who are involved in this. This is a great way to give back to your employees and their families so some businesses will send me a list of –here’s all of our employee exhibitors and we want to put $100 on each of those — our office will take care of that as well,” said Reiley.
Reiley says the process might not work exactly as a real auction, but the idea is the same.
“Some buyers choose to kind of sit back and let those exhibitors come to them. They learn about their project, talk to them and then they will put on them. Some buyers will sit back and as the kid comes across the floor, they’ll just add on money — $100-$200 – from the floor. But it’s a little different than a normal auction that you would go to so I feel that some of our new buyers can get a little confused with how that process can work. So, again, they can put money on the multiple buyer form, or they can put on money from the floor. Either way works,” said Reiley.
Of course, Reiley says every dollar matters when it comes to supporting these youth and their year long projects. Friends, family members and community members may also show their support by contributing a $20 add-on to as many projects as they wish.
This year’s youth livestock and homemakers show runs Jan. 21-25 at the Seguin Events Complex.
This year’s show, featuring FFA and 4-H students from Guadalupe County, will feature 587 exhibitors and 1,603 entries.
Prior to the noon auction on Saturday, Jan. 25, baked goods will go on sale beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan.23. The items will continue to be available on Friday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Again, to participate as a buyer, register at gcys.org.