By Sydney Leyerle

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

The first ever Ring of Dreams Show at the Wood County Fair was a huge success with 43 participants and a full crowd.

Thursday’s Ring of Dreams show was an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to show an animal at the fair. They could choose to show either a rabbit, pig, beef feeder, goat or lamb. Each participant was paired with a junior fair member who helped teach them the ropes.

Amanda Barndt, who set up the show, said they had almost double the participants than she had originally expected. This turnout, along with the 35 junior fair members and the huge crowd, helped make the show a success.

“I didn’t see anybody not smiling,” Barndt said. “The junior members enjoyed every second of it. The parents and all the comments we heard in the background, all the side conversations, everybody’s been super impressed by it.”

Throughout the show there was a large crowd, with all the seating to be filled and many people to be standing around the arena. The audience clapped and cheered, which Barndt said she believes shows the participants how much support they have from the community.

Thursday’s Ring of Dreams show was an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to show an animal at the fair.

Sydney Leyerle | Sentinel-Tribune

This show brought a new experience to the fair for everyone.

Stephanie Conway said she enjoyed getting to experience being the judge for the show and loved to watch the relationship between the participants and the junior fair members.

“I think really, the interaction between them (the participants) and the junior fair member was probably my favorite, watching that,” she said. “You could tell that they understood each other and had a friendship building and I think that was good.”

Sydney Leyerle | Sentinel-Tribune

The junior fair members had the opportunity to share their love of animals with someone new, which Conway said allows them to gain new experience and make new relationships.

“I thought it was great for the junior fair members that got to work with each of the individuals as well, just to have that experience,” she said. “All the animals were well behaved and there was lots of smiles and I think they were pretty excited that they were able to do this.”

The relationships made between the junior fair members and the participants is something that Barndt said will likely stick with them for a long time.

“I think this is a lifetime friendship kind of experience,” Barndt said.

Participant Kim Paxton had never shown an animal before, but she said she loved the experience and enjoyed working with a junior fair member. She said the junior fair member taught her a variety of things about the animal and how to show it.

“They taught us everything that we needed to learn,” she said. “So, they were there to help us out along the way and to encourage us and show us how it’s done.”

With the turnout this year, Barndt said this show is something she hopes to continue in the future at the fair. She said she believes the show will grow each year and will continue to allow for new connections and experiences.

“We’re incredibly happy with it,” she said. “We’ll be doing this for years to come.”