Scott is a lady's man.

His favorite activities include snuggling with his pen mates, long belly rubs and a good roll in the hay.

Yup, he's a pig. Literally.

"He loves the other pigs," said his owner, 18-year-old Jennifer Butler of Midwest. "He's a big marshmallow. You rub his belly and he just falls over."

"They've got a lot of personality," explained Midwest student Katie Robinson, who brought her own pigs, Marilyn and Joe, to Casper for the Central Wyoming Fair. "It's kinda hard not to get attached to the animals, but in the end it is a business so you kinda have to… get detached. It's hard to watch them leave, but they gotta go when they gotta go."

After seven years of working together, Katie and Jennifer consider themselves "business partners." Although neither made much money during their first years in business, once they got over the initial costs of feed, pens and other necessities.

During the previous six years, the

Scott, Marilyn and Joe are a few of hundreds of swine enjoying new digs in the Morton Arena Annex, the brand new pig barn at the Natrona County Fairgrounds.

About 275 pigs fit in the new barn, which comes complete with a watering system and new pens.

"The new Morton Arena Annex now has roof that does not leak. It is free-span so we don't have posts to work around," said Colleen Campbell, who runs Natrona County's 4-H program. "All of those things were needs that we had in the past, in addition to a cooling system. The old barn was very, very hot with an old roof, and we're delighted to have something that is just state of the art."

A Wall of Thanks, started about five years ago, acts as a small memorial of appreciation for community contributions, she said.

"We auctioned off this pyramid, and as a result of that we had enough money to prove that we could pursue the project," she said. "After that, we had many large donors, which are the foundation of the Morton Arena Annex. In addition to that, we have smaller bricks that have been placed there. With these, we just want to show the community all of the support we had."

"It's amazing," Katie said. "There's so much more space, and more wash space. It's a lot more organized and it just looks better. It's a whole lot better."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com.

A good place for pigs

By Jake Mitchell

Star-Tribune videographer

Remaining fair events

* Today: "Kids Day", all day; dairy cattle show, 7:30 a.m.; dairy goat show, 7:45 a.m.; swine show, 9 a.m.; Crabtree Amusements Carnival, noon; livestock judging, noon; exhibit halls open, noon; cat show, 1 p.m.; Wyoming Idol, 4 p.m.; FFA Round Robin showmanship, 5 p.m.; Chinook Winds Drill Team, 7 p.m.; PRCA Rodeo, 7:30 p.m.

* Saturday: Buyers Breakfast, 7 a.m.; 4-H, FFA Junior Livestock Sale, 8 a.m.; Crabtree Amusements Carnival, 3 p.m.; exhibit halls open, 3 p.m.; Wyoming Idol, 4 p.m.; Chinook Winds Drill Team, 7 p.m.; PRCA Rodeo, 7:30 p.m.