On Sunday afternoon, at the South Mountain Fair, the Dundas County 4-H beef achievement day unfolded before a crowd of friends, family, and curious onlookers. Pictured above is Dawson Pinkham (right) who was awarded the title of Grand Champion Showman while Mikayla Green (left) was awarded the title of Reserve Grand Champion Showman during the Dundas County Beef Achievement Day. Tinkess Photo
SOUTH MOUNTAIN – One of the joys of living in Eastern Ontario is how, in the summer and early fall you can experience in a small way what it was like for the agricultural community to celebrate their accomplishments by coming together for the local fair.
In South Mountain last weekend, there was the opportunity to listen to big name recording artists (George Canyon), enjoy the thrill of the midway, watch the demolition derby, and maybe even see a velociraptor or Ariel the littlest mermaid strolling about. You could also see the fruits of the labours of so many on display in the various tents and buildings, the very best with a small ribbon attached.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the showring where, on Sunday afternoon the Dundas County 4-H beef achievement day unfolded before a crowd of friends, family, and curious onlookers.
My knowledge of beef extends only about as far as how I like it prepared, but I watched the event from start to finish, as I had on other occasions, trying to educate myself not only on what the judges would be looking for, but also observing how the young show persons carried themselves and gently encouraged their calf to behave. Some were obviously in synch, others not quite so much, but you could see how hard they were trying to do well. There were so many emotions: happiness when success was achieved, disappointment when things didn’t go quite as planned, and even humour, like when one calf, deciding that enough was enough flopped on its side beside its mother and for a short time refused to get up.
While not everyone ended up with a ribbon, anyone should be considered a champion who puts that much time and effort into learning skills that will transfer into their livelihood, and we should be grateful that they do.
These are some of the results from the Dundas County 4-H beef achievement day. The judge was Mitch Hennekam.
Grand Champion Female, Dawson Pinkham; Reserve Grand Champion Female, Hayley Hannah; Grand Champion Showman, Dawson Pinkham and Reserve Grand Champion Showman, Mikayla Green.
Conformation Classes
Champion heifer calf, Hayley Hannah and Reserve Champion heifer calf, Alexis Nixon.
Terry Tinkess is a professional photographer, educator and journalist. He has been making a living with a camera and keyboard since 1999 and has been featured in such publications as The Ottawa Citizen, Cornwall Standard Freeholder, The Globe and Mail, The Miami Herald, Ottawa Construction News, The Ontario Construction Report, Ontario Home Builder Magazine, Reed Construction Data, Canadian Potato Business and most recently, The Record and Eastern Ontario AgriNews. Terry lives in Ingleside, Ontario with his wife Brenda, Mia the anxious Pittie and cats Wally and Chubbers.
