<I>Contributed photo</I><BR>2010 Grant County Fair Grand Marshals Jackie and Katie Johns

GRANT COUNTY – Cattle ranchers Katie and Jackie Johns of Fox were taken aback when the community recently voted them in as the 2010 Grant County Fair and Rodeo grand marshals.

“There were so many wonderful people that were nominated,” said Katie Johns.

The couple, who are Grant County natives, are longtime supporters of the fair, especially the 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs.

Katie recalls her first experience with 4-H as a youngster, taking three lambs to the fair.

“They were bummer lambs,” she said. “They didn’t have mamas, so I had to get up in the middle of the night to feed them every three hours.

“It taught me a lot of responsibility.”

Katie was born at home in Canyon City, where Prospector Ice is now located.

Her family later moved to Southern Oregon, then returned to Fox when she was 21. Her grandparents ranched in Bear Valley.

She married Jackie Johns in September 1959.

He has lived in Fox all of his life. His granddad, Jack Baughan, started ranching there in 1904.

The couple have three daughters: Deena Moore of Walla Walla, Wash., and Brenda Christy and Kathie Kay Burke, both of Pendleton.

Their girls all went through the 4-H program, and the Johnses were both 4-H leaders.

Jackie was superintendent of the beef barns over the years and chairman of the fair board in the 1980s. The couple also donates to the Heritage Foundation.

Katie taught high school sewing in Long Creek and shared that knowledge with a 4-H sewing class. She also taught 4-H home economics, crafts and tole painting and is a certified 4-H judge for the open class.

They both say there’s a lot to learn in the 4-H and FFA programs. Jackie noted that the youth learn responsibility, public speaking, and they make new friends. Katie added that money their girls earned from selling their animals helped them get to college.

The couple enjoy returning to the fair each year.

“It’s just like going home and seeing family again, seeing kids grown up with their families,” Katie said.

When they go to the fair these days, they still support the auctions.

“People supported our children, and we want to do the same,” Katie said.