By Rocky Wilson of the Wallowa  County Chieftain

Lucas Stangel is a small 11-year-old who rides high in his go-cart when he motors from his father's shop down to the barn where he meets many times per day with his 4-H lamb Maynard. 

Maynard, who will go on the auction block Saturday night, is a friend and a business venture all in one.

This is the second year that Lucas will show an animal at the Wallowa County and he hopes to get even more money than one year ago when he
grossed $322 with his lamb Oreo. He cried when Oreo was sold and does not know, now at age 11, if he will cry again this year. He knows that he
will get "a little nervous" when he steps into the showmanship ring before 100 or more people.

Lucas and Maynard became a team right after school was out when parents Dick and Nancy Stangel purchased the 75-85 lb. lamb from Debbie Gilbert. Since that time Lucas has been frequenting the barn three times per day to feed Maynard and, to begin with, was spending 20 additional minutes per day to walk Maynard around in circles to train the lamb for showmanship
purposes. In the last three weeks before the fair Lucas and Maynard have collaborated twice daily for 20 minute training sessions.

Lambs like Maynard are fed Purina Show Chow for lambs, alfalfa pellets and, as the lamb born late in January gets older, some hay. The lamb needed to weigh in excess of 110 lbs. for the 4-H weigh-in this week.

Lucas hopes that he will not be faced with the drama he faced one year ago when Oreo became deathly ill between showmanship and the livestock auction. Fortunately two local veterinarians were nearby to pull the lamb through the crisis and Stangel showed his prize blue ribbon animal
at the auction. The lamb choked on some grain.

In addition to his daily visits with his lamb Maynard, Lucas has spent considerable time working on his 4-H record book, documenting every expense for feed and time spent over the past two-plus months. Father Dick Stangel says that Lucas tallied information on calendars, then
downloaded the information in 4-H record book style. They figured the young man's time on record book alone at from 10 to 12 hours.

Equipped with a quiet smile and braces, Lucas followed 12-year-old sister Krista into the 4-H ranks, with some encouragement from his parents. Little brother Kyle – who gave Maynard his name – is eight years old and, though not old enough for 4-H, will be in the ring Saturday morning when the popular pee wee showmanship class takes place.

Lucas is one of some30 members of the Golden Arrow Livestock 4-H Club which meets regularly under the leadership of Nancy Maasdam. Most of the group will be in the county fair as well. Lucas also is involved in the 4-H Archery Club.

In the county fair Lucas will enter Maynard in conformation and showmanship, plus participate in the livestock judging competition. He won blue ribbons in the former two last year with Oreo, plus earned a judging trip to Moscow, Ida. His favorite activity is showmanship.

Entering the 6th grade later this month, Lucas – working in an agreement with his parents who purchased the animals last year and this year – will place his proceeds from Maynard into the same college education fund as Oreo contributed to last year.

Lucas says that his two lambs started out a little stubborn, but became much more manageable the more time he spent with them. He said that Maynard used to jump up on him, but has not done so for several days.

Little Lucas Stangel is just one of some 300 Wallowa County youth who are participating in the Wallowa County Fair this week. Many, like Lucas, may shed some tears when the auction permanently separates them from their animal. Many may also place the proceeds from their 4-H summer job into a bank account earmarked for college.

Copyright 2001 Wallowa  County Chieftain  Reprinted by permission