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Tonight's supper to help young goat enthusiasts pay for trip

Morning Sentinel Staff

MANCHESTER -- Want to eat spaghetti for a goat cause?

Some 16 members of the Junior Boer Goat Breeders of Maine are hosting a spaghetti supper from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the Manchester Lions Club to raise money for a trip to Kentucky.

The members and their Boer goats -- mostly white goats with red heads -- plan to attend the Eastern Regional National Show held at Murray State University in Murray, Ky., May 26 through June 1.

"The junior Boer goat club was started three years ago by a small group of kids that were looking to get their own farms started in Maine," said Jennifer Mills of Pittston Farm in Somerset County, who is youth director of the group. Three of her children are members.

In the first year, members showed goats at the Skowhegan and Windsor fairs.

"In 2008, we even sent four youth from Maine to the National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.," Mills said.

"The club has since grown to include over 40 kids throughout Maine and New Hampshire. This is a great sign since, as most people know, agriculture is declining substantially in the Northeast."

Mills said Friday the No. 1 goal set by the members was to attend a national show, and that's happening this year.

"The children's animals they are taking will be judged similar to a dog show on conformation and breed characteristics," Mills said. "This show will not only allow the kids to exhibit their own animals to see where they stand, but it will also give them the opportunity to see bloodlines and animals that they would never have the chance to see here in Maine."

Club members are Kerstin Palmer, of Windsor; Shawn, Cody and Daniell Mills, of Pittston Farm; Kristen Davis, of New Sharon; Emily Williams, of Chesterville; Abby and Alex Karter, of Fairfield; Katie and James LeBlanc, of Skowhegan; Kate and William Maheu, of Fairfield Center; Jim Dixon, of Winslow; Megan Lewis, of Jefferson; Devon Turcotte, of Cornville; and Sydyen Wilson, of Nottingham, N.H.

They plan to do bake sales at Wal-Mart in Augusta in April and hold a silent auction at the Northeast Livestock Expo at the Windsor Fairground in May.