In a driveway along a country road, a sculpture pig sits atop a welcome sign with four residents' names etched above the green clover symbolic of 4-H.
The Barbens of Jarrettsville are a 4-H family, steeped in the traditions of the century-old organization that stresses hands-on learning. The pigs, raised in their backyard, will promenade in the show ring this week at the Harford County Farm Fair, a four-day event that highlights local 4-H achievements.
Paul and Karen Barben and their sons, Jake and Josh, are used to showing off their pigs. Neighbors drop by the 2-acre homestead and ask to see the piglets. Carloads of people slow to a stop and stare at the two spacious pigpens in the yard. And the family never misses a county fair.
Four of their pigs and a few others from their prize-winning sow's last litter of 11, which have since become projects for friends in 4-H, will be in the show ring Thursday, the opening day of the 20th annual fair.
Jake and Josh have raised eight pigs since the family's prize-winning sow - nicknamed Sally Jr., after her equally prolific mother - gave birth in February. The piglets have grown into hardy hogs, weighing 220 to 270 pounds, the size limit for the show.
Karen and Paul Barben, who volunteer as superintendents of the swine show this year, will set up the show ring for 76 youthful exhibitors, each of whom is allowed to enter two pigs. The couple has earned 4-H All Star status for their many years of participation.
"It's like the 4-H Hall of Fame," Paul Barben said.
Their sons have chosen the best of the litter for the show and sale, one of the first of many livestock events in the four-day fair at the Equestrian Center in Bel Air.
"I have good ones this year," said Josh, 14. "I picked them when they were babies for their muscle and frame. I might have the grand champion."
Jake, 17, took that honor a few years ago and earned $1,000 from the sale of the champion.
The brothers manage the daily duties with guidance from their mother, who has raised pigs since she was a teen on a farm in Churchville. They favor Yorkshire-Hampshire crossbreeds, which can be black, white or anywhere in between with all manner of spots and stripes. Unlike her mud-loving offspring, Sally Jr. enjoys a daily hosing to keep her hide creamy white.
"I can recognize ours in the ring by their different markings," Karen Barben said.
Porcine prize-winners typically sell for about $500. Market sales at the fair helped Jake buy a used pickup truck, and both brothers put profits into their college funds.
"Raising pigs is teaching them good business practice and helping them save money," their father said.
The fair offers many other livestock shows, including sheep, cows and poultry, and pig races are a perennial crowd favorite. Organizers mix the tried-and-true with a few new acts and vendors each year, said Joan Ryder, a Bel Air real estate agent who has helped run the event for 16 years.
Fairgoers can cheer at tractor pulls, sheep dog trials and horse shows, and enter watermelon- and pie-eating contests. Several country western acts will be entertaining, and for a taste of the Old West, visitors can stop by the camp of Rusty's Trail Blazing Chuckwagon, a 1901 original John Deere model.
But at its core, the fair is about 4-H, Ryder said.
"4-H is the whole reason for this event," she said.
Daily admission is $7 per person, $3 for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children younger than 5. Proceeds will help pay for the 2008 fair and 4-H programs.
The Barbens are among about 3,000 volunteers at the fair.
"These farmers and business owners pull off a first-class, family-oriented event, and make it all look seamless," said John Sullivan, Harford's director of agriculture. "They leave their own farms and businesses, and volunteer long hours in the heat."
Paul and Karen Barben, who met in 4-H clubs as teens, have been married for 20 years. The fair is a must among the family's summer activities, which include preparing for the football season at North Harford High School, which the younger Barbens attend.
"The fair celebrates the life and ever-changing face of Harford County agriculture," Sullivan said.
In the days leading to the fair, Jake and Josh, like hundreds of other 4-H youth, are training and preening their livestock.
The brothers raise one litter at a time. The pigs have room to roam but prefer their pens in the shade of towering pines. The pigs while away the days in a wooden shelter that offers a cool concrete floor with a constant supply of food and water. They can wallow in the mud nearby.
The latest crop will be sold or slaughtered before Sally Jr. delivers her next litter in August. Although the brothers name their pigs, they don't get attached.
"It's a business, and I can stay detached," Jake said. "It's girls that get attached to animals."
Karen Barben said she would be satisfied if the family's entries place in the top three this week. And she cautioned, "It is not just how a pig looks, but also about how it behaves. The judges will be looking at the exhibitor."
So for the past few weeks, the brothers have been walking the pigs on the grass. With a crop, they gently prod the animal in the right direction.
"A pig would rather lay down or play in the mud," Jake said. "You have to direct it. Walking helps build their muscle, but it's more about genetics. Sally is just a good producer."
mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com
The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. next Sunday. Information: info@farmfair.org.