Bucking the trend

Aug. 4, 2006

By JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman

LAZY MOUNTAIN - Zane Mileur is part musician, athlete and farmer.

In an age where health officials worry about growing numbers of sedentary American children propped in front of video games and television screens, this 11-year-old Palmer boy bucks the trend.

Olive skinned with a thatch of black hair, Mileur admits to owning a Gameboy - he just doesn't have much time to play it.

Between home-school lessons, football, baseball and soccer seasons, he has little inclination to fire up the video games, he said.

On top of sports, he also practices violin, raises a couple of 300-pound pigs and feeds a burgeoning young calf.

Just before football practice Wednesday, Mileur led his 475-pound bovine through the backyard. The family home consists of a log cabin, perched on a 5-acre Lazy Mountain lot.

&#8220It's pretty fun,” Mileur said, of raising farm animals each of past three summers. &#8220It's always fun to show them in the ring at the state fair.”

Mileur and his older sister, Melody, raised four 4-H pigs this summer - a fifth already is in the family freezer - and the calf, which also is destined for the freezer.

In last year's 4-H competition at the Alaska State Fair, Melody and Zane's pigs finished first and second, respectively.

&#8220I've been doing it for three years now and I've had a lot of fun with it,” Mileur said.

&#8220The pigs are a lot easier to handle and cuter in the beginning. As they get older, they start getting a little more annoying. They start to press their luck.”

The fun is mixed with plenty of work, which is just fine with Zane's father, Scott Mileur.

&#8220It teaches them responsibility and how to care for animals,” the elder Mileur explained.

Work includes walking the pigs, training them to pose and strut for the auction, feeding, watering and cleaning their pens, as well as keeping a daily log of their food intake, weight and overall expenses.

All the work, however, eventually pays off.

Last year, Mileur garnered more than $2,000 for his prize pig at the 4-H auction. He's hoping to duplicate the effort again this year, with the goal to beat his older sister. Most of the money goes toward college savings, but Mileur gets to keep $100 for spending money.

What do his fellow football teammates think of the boy raising two pigs and a calf?

&#8220They think it's pretty cool, I guess,” Mileur said.

Of course, raising livestock is part of a long family tradition, and Mileur plans to raise pigs again next year.

For as long as he can remember, his family has raised pigs, chickens and cows to feed the family. Despite caring for and naming the animals, Mileur helps his dad butcher those destined for the family freezer. The 4-H pigs go to a professional butcher, but the others are done at home.

The young Mileur speaks like a seasoned farmer when matter-of-factly describing the livestock life cycle.

&#8220I don't have any major feelings about it,” he shrugged. &#8220They will go to the butcher shop and that's it.”

Mileur will auction one of his pigs at the state fair at noon on Sept. 3.

In the meantime, he's practicing football, slopping hogs, and enjoying another summer on the side of Lazy Mountain.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.