Showing up the competition
Thursday, July 26, 2007 12:03 AM CDT
BY JEFF BURTON
Armed with only a
cattle prod, eight Porter County "celebrities" paraded 1,400-pound bovines
around the arena during Wednesday night's Celebrity Beef Showmanship Event at
the Porter County Fair. In the end, retiring Valparaiso University
President Alan Harre won by a nose -- and four hooves. The event was a way
to highlight the accomplishments of the local notables and draw attention to the
time 4-H members put into their animals, Jane Maxwell, the event's organizer,
said. Harre had a leg up in the competition, though, having shown cattle in his
youth and spending many recent summers on his son-in-law's Simmental cattle
ranch in Nebraska, where he plans on retiring in May. County Commissioner Bob
Harper and Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas rounded out the top three. Harper had
experience with 4-H as a boy in rural Lake County and so did Brenda Sheetz with
the Porter County Community Foundation, who was a 4-H member growing up on her
parents' farm in Pulaski County. Sheetz said her family always had cows, pigs,
chickens and horses, but she gravitated toward the sewing and cooking clubs.
Throughout the competition, Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce Chairman Dave
Rose's calf was reluctant to move, prompting Sheetz to step in. "I didn't think
it was fair for one of the biggest guys here to have the smallest one," Sheetz
said. "And, I wanted one more my size anyway." Harre, who traded cattle three
times during the competition, said all the animals he worked with were
exceptionally docile and well behaved. Maxwell said while the cattle that were
easiest to handle were selected for the event, there was an underlying reason
for the calmness. "They'd been shown all day and they're probably all worn
out," Maxwell said. She said the thought of shaking things up crossed her
mind. "We thought about putting a feisty one in the bunch," Maxwell said. "We
decided at the last minute that we'd better not." Maxwell said the
competition, which also featured County Councilman Mike Bucko, Porter County
United Way President Sharon Kish and Porter County Sheriff David Lain, drew a
larger crowd than in past years. She'll likely consider making it an
annual event, possibly having the "celebrities" show pigs next year.
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