“Parting is such sweet sorrow” is a line from “Romeo and Juliet” that expresses the mixed feeling of sadness and joy.

Certainly, the 4-H members who participated in the annual livestock auction at the Carbon County Fair on Saturday can relate.

Morgan Myers, the 15-year-old Lehighton Area High School sophomore who showed the grand champion dairy beef for the second consecutive year, cried when “Redd’s” was sold even though it fetched nearly five times its market value.

And rookie 4-Her Olivia Stewart, 9, of Weatherly had both the grand champion and reserve champion market hogs. While raising the pigs, she constantly gave them belly rubs. On the day of the auction, when she knew they would be going away for good, she fed them apples.

The joy, though, was the hefty prices most of the 47 animals sold at the auction netted, making their hard work during the past year payoff.

The auction was held on the final day of the fair.

The fourth annual Floyd and Jane Smith 4-H Scholarships, totaling $500, were awarded to Natalie Mosier, a 2023 graduate of Palmerton High School who will be attending Penn State University, and Olivia Dages, a 2021 home school graduate who is attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The awards were presented by Richard and Barbara Getz, owners of Forest Inn Storage. They received money from the estate of the Smiths, who were Palmerton residents. All the money Mr. and Mrs. Getz received was donated to the 4-H Leadership Committee for scholarships.

4-H member Jocelyn Motola was the recipient of the Bob Dunn Excellence Award. Dunn, who died in 2018, was owner of the Hometown Farmers Market. The award was presented by family members of Dunn.

Tim Houser of Houser Auctioneer, West Penn Township, conducted the auction. He said his family has been volunteering services for the auction for decades. He told about the struggles of farmers, including how it has become impossible for young people to buy farms and how difficult it has become for existing individual farmers to hold onto their land.

Natalie Mosier opened the auction with the Pledge of Allegiance and Brance Fronheiser led the 4-Hers in the 4-H Pledge.

Morgan, daughter of Dan and Carissa Myers of Lehighton, admitted it was difficult to say goodbye to Redd’s, even though it is her seventh year of showing dairy cows in 4-H. She said, “When I got him, I got attached to him. It’s sad to see him got.”

She said she enjoys 4-H, though, for many reasons including, “I like how it gets me to meet new people. It teaches me leadership skills and shows me how to be a better person in the future.”

Despite the pain of losing “Redd’s,” she said she’s already planning to return with dairy cows next year.

This is Stewart’s only second year in 4-H and she’s showing great enthusiasm. Besides having the top two market hogs, she won a ribbon for a poster contest and several photography awards. The fifth-grade student said photography, Girl Scouts and catching bugs are among her hobbies.

She is the daughter of Jason and Megan Stewart.

She said that next year, in addition to the pigs, she intends to show dairy cows.