Champion animals take center stage in contests
The Fayette County Fair bustled Tuesday with competitions being held all over the Dunbar Township fairgrounds, including dairy cattle, poultry and rabbits, market goats, farm products, 4-H exhibits and swine. At the Indoor Arena, judging of dairy cattle began at 9 a.m., with many exhibitors dressed in traditional white as they led off the show with the Holstein class. Thomas Boyer of York served as judge.
Jeffrey Orr, the 15-year-old son of Bill and Elizabeth Orr of Belle Vernon, won grand champion and reserve grand champion in the 4-H Holstein show while Allen Hill Dairy of Smock took grand champion and Melissa Miller of Connellsville won reserve grand champion Holstein in open class.
Orr, a 10th-grade student at Belle Vernon High School, is in his seventh year of 4-H, and said of winning, “It feels pretty good. Last year, I won with the same cow.’
He referred to his 3-year-old cow named Kendal. Orr said he felt confident he might win again this year, but noted, “You never know what someone else is going to have.’
Rick Allen, who co-chairs the dairy department, commented that numbers for this year’s dairy cattle show at the fair were down slightly, but said, “Looking through the barns, there’s a lot of young kids coming up.’
He noted that while Holstein makes up 90 percent of dairy cattle nationwide, local entries are going up for other breeds, such as Guernsey, Ayrshire, Brown Swiss and Jersey.
Results for other breeds included:
– Ayrshire – Jennifer Poole of Mount Pleasant, open class grand champion, and Mary Fencil of Dunbar, open class reserve grand champion and 4-H grand and reserve grand champion.
– Brown Swiss – Malinda Fencil of Dunbar, open class grand champion, and Ian Sage of Connellsville, open class reserve grand champion.
– Guernsey – Tomahawk Claim Guernseys of Tarrs, open class champion; Zach Brewer of Mill Run, open class reserve grand champion and 4-H grand champion; and Jocelyn Rittenhouse of Smock, 4-H reserve grand champion.
– Jersey – Andrea Hixson, open class grand and reserve grand champion, and Jocelyn Rittenhouse, 4-H grand and reserve grand champion.
– Milking Shorthorn – Joshua Hawkins of Scottdale, open class and 4-H grand champion, and Shelby Hawkins of Scottdale, open class and 4-H reserve grand champion.
– Red and white – Adam Vance of Mount Pleasant, open class grand and reserve grand champion. In the open class competition, Andrea Hixson of Scottdale was named supreme champion.
Meanwhile, Nick Gephart of Alverton had a good day Tuesday at the poultry and rabbit competition in the Poultry Building – a nice birthday present as he turned 17 just the day before.
Gephart, the son of Lisa and Ed Gephart of Alverton, is a senior at Southmoreland Senior High School. He won champion rabbit with a Sandy Flemish Giant senior buck, reserve champion rabbit with a Black Checkered senior doe, champion waterfowl with a Brown African old gander and reserve champion waterfowl with a White Pekin old drake.
Gephart brought a variety of animals to the fair, including 26 rabbits, 20 pigeons, one turkey, two geese and six ducks.
“It’s something I got into years ago,’ he commented, noting he was influenced by his late cousin Steve Rose. “Everything I know about poultry is thanks to him.’
Gephart, who is a member of the Uniontown Poultry Association, Westmoreland 4-H, the American Rabbit Breeder Association and Westmoreland County Rabbit Club, has won titles before and said of winning, “I enjoy a win. But I look at it as a part of showing. If I lose, I’m not a sore loser. I congratulate the person who wins. I look at it that if you win, all your hard work is paying off.’
Mark Rusinack won champion standard and reserve champion standard with two Light Brahma Pullets. William Armel of Alverton won champion pigeon with his Komorner Tumbler Red Old Cock and reserve champion pigeon with his English Carrier White Old Cock. Kelly Armburger of Cochranton won champion bantam and Jay Yobst of Butler won reserve champion bantam.
And at the Show Arena, Casey Jackson took the title of grand champion market goat while Angela Becker claimed reserve grand champion market goat in a competition judged by Scott Meyers of Bedford County.
Jackson is the 14-year-old son of Kristen and Gerald Jackson of Belle Vernon and a ninth-grade student at Belle Vernon Area High School. He is in his third year of 4-H.
“I was really nervous. I didn’t think I was going to win,’ Jackson said.
Becker is the 10-year-old daughter of Christina and Darrell Becker of Republic and a fifth-grade student at Central Elementary School. This is her first year in goat competition and second year in 4-H. She also entered a market swine and market lamb.
“I was really excited,’ Becker said of winning her title. “I thought it was a good goat and the way it turned out, I’m pretty happy.’
Meanwhile, farm products were judged Tuesday in the Grange Building where co-chairwoman Frances Rosensteel commented, “Our entries are a little down. We started with a good growing season but it became dry. We’re down a little from previous years but the things that are entered look nice.’
Talking about the vegetables, Rosensteel noted there were a lot of entries for peppers and onions, and said, “We have more ripe tomatoes this year compared to last. Lots of warm nights ripen a tomato.’
Co-chair Diana Homer said there were a lot of youth entries this fair. She said there were also a lot of apples, grapes and herbs and noted, “The blackberries are beautiful this year.’
Meanwhile, the Youth Building showcases the work of 4-Hers who enter projects from sewing and community clubs.
Judge Cheryl Hart of Carmichaels, a retired home economics teacher from Mapletown, commented on the quality of items: I’d say, they probably range from good to excellent. I don’t think I’ve seen anything poor.’
“We have a lot of creative pieces,’ said Cathy Brady, extension agent, reeling off a list that included woodworking and recycling.
Brady noted 4-H is trying to increase its number of community clubs. If anyone is interested, she will help them get started. For more information, call the extension office at 724-438-0111.
The Youth Building also includes two open class competitions: one for scarecrows, and the squash-zucchini-and pumpkin contests. Contestants do not need to belong to 4-H to enter.
Lois Fisher of West Newton won the scarecrow contest with a traditional scarecrow she named Gentleman Farmer’s Field Guard. Jeff DiNunno of Uniontown took second place with a scary-looking scarecrow. Dolton Brown of Hopwood placed third with a scarecrow that featured a jack-o-lantern head. Staci Kmetz of Perryopolis was fourth with a scarecrow that had disco-type hairstyle and Dalton Kmetz of Perryopolis placed fifth with another traditional scarecrow.
Meanwhile, children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade were eligible for the squash-zucchini-and pumpkin contest. They were judged by grade for most perfect specimen and were allowed to show creativity with the vegetables in painting and decorating contests.
Meanwhile, the swine competition was scheduled to be held Tuesday night in the Indoor Arena. Chris Diamond, a 4-H leader and chair of the swine department, said, “We have 104 entries in the show. It’s possibly one of the largest in the state.’ He predicted a good show with entries ranging from 220 to 270 pounds.
For more results, see the fair’s Web site at www.fayettefair.com.