WOW. That’s all I can say about a long, hot, eventful week in Grand Island, Nebraska for the 2016 National Junior Angus Show. Queenie, Adora, and I were fully prepared to be at a show for a week long but what we didn’t expect was how big and how high quality the show would be.
On Saturday, Kelsey, Sierra and Chayton arrived in Nebraska to set up the Illinois State Display and mark all te exhibitors stalls and tie-outs. The theme for Illinois’ display was a beach theme and we were all living on the Illinois Angus Resort.
On Sunday, the girls and I- oh and mom and dad- arrived to begin the long week. They were able to check us cattle in and also enjoy an Illinois state meal that i heard was wonderful!
Monday brought the Queen’s luncheon for Sierra and opening ceremonies for all the exhibitors. Opening ceremonies includes all of the states parading in showing off their matching attire and even some entertainment. After the ceremony, there was a tailgate party and fireworks due to Monday being the 4th of July.
On Tuesday, Sierra competed in the Cook-Off contest where her team placed 1st in Senior Steak Showmanship and 2nd Overall in the Senior Steak Division.
After 3 days at the show, it was Adora and I’s time to shine. Getting stuck in some tough classes in the bred and owned show, we missed placing in the top half of our classes but still showed to the best of our ability. For those of you who do not know, the bred and owned heifer show is specifically for heifers that were born and raised on the exhibitor’s farm; whereas, Queenie who is an Owned heifer was not born on our farm but instead purchased from another farm. That Wednesday afternoon, Sierra also competed in Team Sales, which included her team and her to act as though they were selling a bull as a potential herd sire prospect. Her team placed 2nd in the Senior division.
During the bull show on Thursday, Sierra dressed up all fancy as Miss Illinois Angus and presented awards to the bull exhibitors. She also competed in the buzzer round of Quiz Bowl; unfortunately, her team did not place in this competition.
Friday called for Sierra and Kelsey to hold tails for the FCF fitting crew while some heifers were being primped for the first part of the Owned Show. Friday night, Sierra, Kelsey, and Chayton all attended Closing Ceremonies where Chayton received first place in the Junior Angus Cattle Photography division and Sierra was awarded an Angus Foundation scholarship.
Saturday finally rolled around, which meant Queenie’s day to show in the Owned Show. Placing 4th in a tough class, we all were extremely thrilled with her performance.We also headed home shortly after Queenie showed and made it home by midnight.
The National Junior Angus Show is the biggest single-breed junior show out there and us heifers were excited to be there. A show truly takes a village to be run so we are thankful for the hospitality of the host state of Nebraska and for all of the American Angus Association staff that put in a ton of time and effort into this event. A big thank you goes to Sierra and Chayton’s grandparents for always traveling to shows with us, their parents for spending the money for the kids to chase this crazy dream, to Kelsey for continuously scooping poop, doing Sierra’s hair, helping hold tails, etc., and to the FCF team for all of their help. I know that Sierra and Chayton are beyond thankful to have a strong support system behind them.
Stay tuned on how we handle life at a county fair!
Victoria
toldstraightfromthehalter 