Juniors in action at auction

At age 9, you might say Rio Pagliaro is already an old pro.

Her morning at the Sonoma County Fair began much the same way as the 15 other times the Sonoma girl has shown her two sheep this year -- cleaning the pen and feeding her animals grain.

She did it last Saturday at a junior lamb show in San Luis Obispo, where she won supreme grand champion, and Thursday in Santa Rosa, where she won again.

Her Hampshire named Sweet Nibblets sold for $1,950 Thursday in a bid by Robert Gong, owner of G&G Supermarket, during a raucous first round at the junior livestock auction.

With a $1 million total auction record from last year as their bar, auctioneers and fair officials are hopeful support won't falter even amid a weak economy that has increased the cost of raising and buying livestock.

"The fair is just getting bigger," said auctioneer Louis Ricci, who, at age 91, has been to all 72 Sonoma County Fairs. "I'm not worried. The people always come to support the kids."

But auctioneer Rex Williams, who with his wife, Kerry, won Rancher of the Year for their Sebastopol ranch, said the profit margin has shrunk for the kids.

Many use the funds to save for college, as he did. "If we see $1 million this year, it'll be fortunate," he said.

Late Thursday, the final tally of sheep, goats and rabbits sold was not available.Next week are the hog, poultry and steer junior auctions.

Pagliaro, her cheeks pink and her belt sparkly, held her grin as steadily as the head of her sheep as two friends held up her three ribbons during her favorite portion of any fair.

"She likes getting the blue ribbon. She performs well in front of an audience. She's a ham," said her mother, Rori Pagliaro, 27, in the quiet hour before the auction.

She and her husband, Tony, also 27, met at the fair when they were 16. They were showing steer. She won supreme grand champion. Tony did "not so good," he said with a laugh.

Their daughter has inherited their competitive streak.

"I'm hoping she breaks records," her father said. "It's not about the money for us, it's about the buckle, the ribbons."

Today he breeds sheep he sells to other kids for fairs and drives a dump truck for Strand & Sons Excavating in Sonoma, where he's able to take time off when needed to drive the family to fairs across the country.

The cost of doing such trips has gone "through the roof," Tony Pagliaro said, with a drive to Denver increasing from $1,500 last year to around $2,400 this year.

Factor in the high price of feed, up $5 over last year to $15, and prize-winning sheep, and "it's not cheap," he said.

He bought Sweet Nibblets from Nicewonger Club Lambs in Oakdale for $1,700. And after a 4 percent fair fee, the auction price doesn't go far. But, "it's all for a good cause," he said.

Their daughter is learning the dedication it takes to raise a winning sheep, his wife said, the responsibility and work.

Rio feeds the sheep by 8 each morning and again at 6:30 in the evening, and practices her showmanship an hour every night. In the pen before the auction, she was quiet, stroking the sheep she favors over the other 20 on her parents' farm for his personality.

He's already been in newspapers and on TV, so she tells everyone he's famous.

"He does everything that I ask him to do," she said. "He's friendly. And very cute."

And much calmer than many of the other 451 sheep being auctioned -- some who were only garnering bids of $3 per pound.

"I've never seen it that low -- the economy is really affecting the auction," Rori Pagliaro said by cell phone as the bidding continued in the afternoon.

Just before 9 a.m. that morning, kids and teens gossiped with friends and consulted with parents who helped tie shoelaces, fashion green ties and tuck ribbons so they dangled from their back pockets.

Kyle Pruett, 17, of Petaluma, FFA grand champion, arrived just before the auction began, chatting on his cell phone before readying his sheep.

The winning bid for his Hampshire came from Cameron & Cameron Inc. of Fulton for $20 a pound -- the highest among the first 10 sheep sold.

Of the top 25, nine of the youths selling sheep were from Petaluma, five from Santa Rosa and three from Sonoma.

The bids fluctuate depending on what buyers are seeking and how hard youths have worked beforehand to secure buyers, said Sheila Quince, the premium and exhibit coordinator. But this year, it's hard to forecast whether another auction record will be set, she added.

"This is a tough economy," she said. "We're very aware."