A
is for
Animals
By Jennifer
(fifth grader, 1996/97)



Animals were important in the early days of Virginia. Back in the early 1900's horses would pull fire wagons to the fires. They also helped farm the land on farms. For fun (back during the Depression) dog races were held on Main Street and they even had a cow contest. They didn't have money for a prize at the dog race so they would give the winners flour sacks or even pigs and hogs. Back then that would be a great prize.

At the best cow contest the owners would even clean their cows and line them up at a special spot by the Northland building and a judge would come and judge the best cow. Sometimes when the horses would go to the bathroom on the road they would call it road apples, and then someone would come and clean it up.

Mr. Pearsall came to our classroom and he told us when he was younger in that dog race he won groceries for a prize, and when he would help people that didn't have enough money to pay with cash, they would give him pigs.



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MARCH 1997