The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

"Come support the kids" says the Orange County Livestock Show Association in announcing its Fall 2020 Project Show set for Oct. 9-10 at T2 Arena.

Members of Orange County 4-H and FFA chapters from age 8 to 18 are eligible to show livestock and this year's event has an added bonus.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Orange County is sponsoring an "Old Fashioned County Fair Food and Craft Show" alongside the livestock show.

"Our show is always the second weekend in October," says Franny Woods, a 4-H program assistant and board member of the Livestock Association. "This year, our numbers are down due to COVID, but we'll still have a strong show."

The event takes place at the end of National 4-H Week, as proclaimed by Orange County Commissioners Court in its weekly meeting Tuesday. Texas A&M AgriLife is celebrating 113 years of service and its Orange County Extension sponsors local 4-H clubs.

This year's livestock show features rabbit and chicken judging at 6 p.m. Friday, and beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, swine, lamb and goats. The Buyer's Dinner is at 5 p.m. followed by the announcement of Overall Grand Prize winners and the Livestock Auction.

"We're trying to take it back to the old days," Woods said about the addition of the County Fair activities.

"For kids that don't want to raise livestock, this is something they can participate in."

For the Food and Craft Show, each category's judging is divided into Junior Division (3rd through 5th graders), Intermediate Division (6th through 8th graders) and Senior Division (9th through 12th grade).

Categories will include Sweets, Treats & Breads, Canning, Crafts, Fabric Skills, Homemade Personal Accessories, Fiber Arts, Fine Arts and Photography with each having several classes of entries.

Oct. 9 is the deadline for pre-ordering from the Orange County 4-H Annual Pecan Fundraiser for Thanksgiving, while Christmas orders have a Nov. 6 pre-order deadline. Contact the county 4-H office at 409-882-7010 for more information.

Commissioners stressed Tuesday that people wanting the county to pick up storm debris should separate construction and demolition debris separate from white goods (refrigerators, appliances), electronics and green waste as close to the road as sensible and not in drainage ditches.

Karen Stevens of Orange County Meals on Wheels holds a copy of a resolution certifying the Texas Department of Agriculture Texans Feeding Texans: Home Delivered Meal Grants Program for 2021 which was accompanied by a $45,000 check for the local Meals on Wheels program at Tuesday's Orange County Commissioners Court.

In many cases, contracted waste haulers were not able to pick up debris if it was too far from the road. Residents are asked to push the remaining debris forward so a truck can access it when the hauler begins a second pass.

The current estimated cost to the county for debris removal has hit $4.7 million, reported Joel Ardoin, county emergency management coordinator. He said the hauler, AshBritt, has picked up about 360,000 cubic yards of the 400,000 estimated for the first pass.

Ardoin reminded that Bridge City Intermediate School will be the site Oct. 24 for the annual Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission's hazardous waste pickup.

The county paid $532,836 in bills, including $80,000 for a month's insurance for the county's over-65 retirees.

Ardoin also reported the county had 494 confirmed current COVID-19 cases, that included 331 active and 160 probable Rapid tests that had not been checked in a laboratory yet. Total recoveries are 1,639 for a total of 2,168 cases since March and 35 deaths, none in the past week.