Not all the entries at the Comanche County Spring Livestock Show had four legs and a tail. Some were inanimate objects created by welding students.
For the first time, an ag mechanics competition was added, allowing students to show their creativity and expertise with a welder. Students in Lawton Public Schools’ ag mechanics classes entered several of their pieces as they competed against Sterling and Elgin students. In all, 17 projects from the three school districts were entered.
Some of the items Lawton students took to show off were a tool box, a goat feeder, a bench, saw horses, a windmill, some broom stands, a shop table, a roping dummy and horseshoe artwork.
Kelly New, LPS ag mechanics instructor, said the competition was important to let students show off other skills they may have.
“Some kids can do other things (besides show livestock),” New said. “It’s a really good opportunity to socialize with kids in the county that have the same interests as them.”
Most of the items entered were practical ones needed on a working farm or ranch. The team of Larrett Donnell and Tommy King made a toolbox that was specifically designed for the bed of King’s pickup.
“It was designed to hold welding utensils that you may need on the job site,” said King, who wants to be a welder.
Another entry was a goat feeder, made by a student who has goats. Another student made a bench, because sometimes it’s nice just to sit down and relax. At least one entry was intended for one use and ended up as another. Emmanuel Sarmiento Jr. made a coffee table with a mesh top, but decided, “It was too much of a hazard to put glass in it”, and so turned it into a shop table.
The judges seemed to like it since it placed first in the bronze division at a show in Chickasha before being named Grand Champion Decorative Overall at the Comanche County show. Sarmiento said he would keep entering the table in competitions before using it as a shop table in the welding shop at the Life Ready Center.
A project by Christopher Hines and Isabella Prince also leaned toward the more practical side: a pair of metal sawhorses. Hines said he got the idea for the sawhorses by helping his grandfather do a project; his original idea was to build a swing, but he ran out of time.
While the sawhorses might have seemed like a simple project, they proved to be harder than first imagined.
“The sawhorses were simple but a little time consuming. Planning took up most of our time,” Hines said. And then there were the angles to figure out. Hines conferred with a math teacher about how to cut the angles on the ends of the sawhorses.
“These don’t look bought,” Hines said of the finished product. “It came out pretty good. I’m proud of the project.”
While Hines is in his second year of welding, it was the first year for Prince to weld. She said she did some welding and grinding on the sawhorses, learning patience in the process.
“I never knew grinding took that long,” she said of her first welding project.
Prince also made some broomstands.
“The brooms were just lying around. Everything else had a spot but the brooms didn’t have a spot,” she said. “We had all the materials lying around (to make the stands).”
Prince, who said she is considering a career as a welder, said she learned about different welding techniques while working on the items.
Some of the projects were more decorative than practical. Mistilyn Rhodes entered a cactus she made out of horseshoes, which was the first-year welding student’s first project. She said she planned the idea out and put the pieces together to see how it would look before welding the horseshoes into place.
She said she is from Arizona, which inspired the artwork.
“I have a little piece from home,” said Rhodes, who is considering a career in welding or mechanics. “I have known a lot of other people who have been welders. It is all about the fun and being happy with what you have made.”
New said he hoped the ag mechanics contest would be a recruitment tool for the ag mechanics program.
“Students will see they can make stuff and enter contests,” he said.
First-place winners received $750; second place, $500; and third place, $250. Prizes, such as welding helmets and welding gloves, also were awarded.
Contest winners are:
Larrett Donnell and Thomas King - Reserve Grand Champion Overall
Emmanuel Sarmiento - Bravo - Grand Champion Decorative Overall
Mistilyn Rhodes - 1st Place Small Decorative
Hayden Ashburn - 2nd Place Small Decorative
Michael Riley - 1st place Livestock Equipment
Wyatt Shank - 2nd & 3rd Outdoor Recreation
Chris Hines and Isabella Prince - 2nd Agriculture Machinery
Isabella Prince - 3rd Agriculture Machinery