Eddie Owens is thankful for the lessons Teton County 4-H has taught him

JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI) - The Teton County Fair is well underway, and unfortunately, for one member of the 4-H program in the area, this will be his last year as a showman. Eddie Owens is in his tenth year and final year of the program, and he says he is thankful for the many different lessons and community members who helped him get to where he is today.

"The community that's provided by all of the people here. They've when we first started, you have no idea what you're doing. And there were countless people, members, parents that were there to help give us tips and make sure that we were raising our livestock to the best that we could," Owens said.

He says raising pigs and prepping them for a show at the county fair has given him a big life lesson that he wouldn't have had otherwise.

"I have learned that there's a lot more than it seems going into most things in life. And that's especially true when you're raising livestock. So I never expected how much extra things I'm doing outside of, when get home from school. You got to make sure the pigs are fed. They got water and then you got to take them out, you know, clean their pan," Owens said.

Owens will start college at the University of Wyoming soon and says perhaps the biggest lesson he has learned is something he will always take with him.

"I mean, these are kind of the standard ones about hard work, you know, discipline. There's always room for improvement in everything that you do. And that's a really important one. I mean, even today, I learn new stuff that if I was doing it again, I would use next year. And that's the thing. There's always room for improvement and you know, it's okay not to be the best in the world, kind of, and it's okay to keep learning and constantly be learning."

Owens work at the county fair isn't done yet though. He was able to place first in his class with his prized show pigs. He says the next step is to start getting ready for Friday's Fair Auction.