FARMINGTON — When third-grader Andrew Bagley learned that a teacher at his school had been injured in a tractor accident, he knew exactly how he could help, inspired by the recent auction of Goose the Lamb at the Windsor Fair.

Goose was resold four times, providing more than $5,000 for a sick child.

Andrew plans to donate the proceeds from auctioning his three broiler chickens to the family of Hannah Webber, a second-grade teacher at W.G. Mallett School in Farmington. Andrew’s older brother, Jason, was in her class and Andrew is a friend of her son’s through their local wrestling club.

“Mrs. Webber is a fun teacher,” said Jason, 12. “She was always hands-on, and she would go out of her way to help us and answer our questions.”

“Hannah puts a lot of agricultural topics into her school work,” said Andrew’s mother, Lilly Bagley. “She is a farmer herself and she wants kids to know where their food comes from.”

Lilly Bagley said that Dale Strout, a 4-H member from Windsor, pledged the auction proceeds from selling his lamb to a friend who is fighting cancer.

“It was incredible to watch,” she said. “Businesses matched bids with donations, people made donations without bidding. We made a check donation ourselves. And Andrew wants to do the same thing for the Webber family.”

Andrew raised five broiler chickens in 4-H this summer. Three of them, Huey, Dewey and Louie, will be entered in the Farmington Fair’s Youth Auction on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The auction starts at 6 p.m., but people can show up at 5:30 to meet Andrew, the other 4-H members and the animals.

Andrew is a busy boy. The Bagley family travels as far as New York to participate in 4-H events. In addition to raising livestock in 4-H, he participates in wrestling and plays soccer and baseball. Even before he was old enough to join 4-H, he was showing sheep. He also works in the cattle barn at the Fryeburg Fair, feeding, cleaning up and washing dairy cows.

“The cows don’t like being washed,” he said. “It gets cold up there in the morning.”

Andrew usually puts his auction sales money away in his college savings account or uses it to feed his livestock. But he is happy to donate whatever money Hewey, Dewey and Louie earn to the Webber family.

And what would he like Hannah Webber to know?

“I hope she gets better,” he said. “Soon!”

 

 

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