The 2007 Karnes County Youth Show is being described as a big success in spite of the messy, cold weather it had to endure.

The grand champion halter steer, the biggest auction item of the night, took in $5,500, setting a new youth show auction record. Overall, bid amounts were up over last year’s totals …

The new, earlier auction start time was well received, Karnes County Agriculture Extension Agent Dennis Hale said.

"I thought the auction held good until the end. It was over earlier than normal and it was starting to get cold. If we’d have started two hours later, we’d have been out there two hours later, which would’ve been two hours colder," he said. "Overall I heard no complaints. Most of the buyers enjoyed it. From what I understand, we’re going to stay with that earlier auction time."

Bidding on the last item ended at 9 p.m. and the auction was over by 9:30 p.m.

General attendance numbers held steady all three days, as well.

"We all expected gloom and doom with the weather (but) I really heard very few complaints about it being cold. Once you got in the barn around all the animals, all the people, and all the activities, it wasn’t like being in a heated room, but it wasn’t really cold. Two days earlier, we’d have been in a world of hurt with all the ice and all that, but we lucked out in that respect."

Following the grand champion halter steer’s lead, most of the champion and reserve items sold for more than they did last year.

"As a general group, most of the champions and reserves were up. They were bringing good money. All the way through the sale it held very well," Hale said. "Crowds were good. Everything went really well in spite of horrible weather. You always have some minor problems, but there were no real glitches. Every division went real smooth."

Pictures, winners, buyers, and more from the event can be found in the special youth show section in the February 7 edition of The Countywide.