Grant County Farm and Home Show Rated A Success

The frigid temperatures experienced Friday and Saturday last week did not keep participants, spectators, or vendors from visiting the 68th annual Grant County Farm and Home Show.
The annual Lego contest was a big hit according to Sara Koepke 4-H Youth Educator, with over 30 youth participating in the event. Each entrant used their own Lego bricks and base to build a design in 30 minutes.

Winners of each age group were Thomas Bass, first, and Bryton Blauert, second, in the 4-6 year category; Hunter Sackreiter, first, and Jarett Amdahl, second, in the 7-8 age group; Gerald Tschetter, first, and Carson Tschetter, second, for ages 9-10, and Kirby Tschetter, first, and Becca Loehrer, second, in the 11 and older age group. Stewart Loehrer was the winner of the People’s Choice award.

7-8 year old Lego winners – left, Jarett Amdahl, second; right, Hunter Sackreiter, first.

Three 4-H members participated in the Grant County 4-H Public Presentation Contest on Saturday. Members prepared demonstrations or illustrated talks, complete with posters or power point presentations. “Youth who take part in the presentations build valuable skills that will assist them in the future,” said Koepke.
Hope Karels earned a blue ribbon for her presentation titled “My First Pig, Happy”. Kylee Mogen received a purple for her talk “Farm Her”, while William Karels earned a purple for his “Archery 101” presentation.

Left, Sage Lawrence; right, Hope Karels. Not pictured is Cailey Sime and Casside Seezs.

Crop and home exhibits were down, according to Koepke.

“This year the number of entries were at their lowest. We had just 57 crop entries and 74 home exhibits.”

The exhibit judging took place Thursday, January 14. Community members entered home exhibits to win top honors in beginner, youth, and adult categories.

The following is the list of the top winners in each category:
Foods – Cailey Sime, beginner; William Karels, youth; Krecia Leddy, adult
Photography – Casside Seezs, beginner; Sydney Zenk, youth; Cheryl Schweer, adult
Clothing – Hope Karels, beginner; Sydney Zenk, youth; Melissa Gall, adult
Visual Arts – Sage Lawrence, beginner; William Karels, youth; Cheryl Schweer, adult
Self-Determined – Hope Karels, beginner; William Karels, youth

Those who placed first and second in the crop show will be entered in the 2016 State Crop Show in Watertown, in conjunction with the Watertown Winter Farm Show. The Best in Show crop results are as follows:
Grain Crops – Randy Busk, first, second and third place
Forages – Abraham Fonder, first; Randy Busk, second; Devin Urban, third
Potatoes – Bailey Nolting, first; Trevor Nolting, second; Bergen Nolting, third
Eggs – Arlo Fish, first; Deborah Peiker, second; Devin Urban, third

The Milbank Chamber of Commerce Agriculture committee sponsored three $100 drawings for crop exhibitors, one for a youth and two adults. The winners for the crop drawings were Bailey Nolting, youth; Michelle Schweer and David Berkner, adult.

The local 4-H organization volunteers plan to continue featuring exhibits in both crops and home arts areas. “I encourage area residents to start thinking ahead to next year’s show and get your entries featured,” noted Koepke.

Following are a complete list of crop show and home exhibit results from the 2016 show:
Crop Exhibits
Dent corn (any color) – Paul Fonder, first; Dominic Fonder, second
Shelled corn – Randy Busk, first; Kayla Schweer, second; Paul Fonder, third
Soybeans – Randy Busk, first; Randy Busk, second
Spring Wheat – Dale Tuchscherer, first; Randy Busk, second; Arlo Fish, third
Oats – Paul Fonder, first; Cailey Sime, second
Alfalfa Sample – Abraham Fonder, first; Randy Busk, second; Devin Urban, third
Legume and Grass Mixture sample – Randy Busk, first; Michelle Schweer, second; Arlo Fish, third
Prairie Hay sample – Devin Urban, first; Ed Fawcett, second; Arlo Fish, third
Tame Grass Hay sample – Devin Urban, first; Arlo Fish, second
Corn silage – Devin Urban, first; Eric Hansen, second; Kaden Schweer, third
Alfalfa Haylage – Paul Fonder, first; Eric Hansen, second
Red Potatoes – Trevor Nolting, first
White Potatoes – Bailey Nolting, first
Russet Potatoes – Bergen Nolting, first
White eggs – Deborah Peiker, first; Sage Lawrence, second; Deborah Peiker, third
Brown eggs – Arlo Fish, first; Joanne Urban, second; Devin Urban, third
Other color eggs – Devin Urban, first; Joanne Urban, second; Avery Leonard, third

Home Exhibits
Skirt or jumper – Hope Karels, first
Dress – Melissa Gall, first
Pants, shorts or garment with a crotch seam – Casside Seezs, first
Household accessory – Sydney Zenk, first; Joanne Meyer, second; Cailey Sime, third
Misc constructed article – Cailey Sime, first; Nadia Thue, second
Selected outfit – Casside Seezs, first
Bar cookies – Casside Seezs, first
Drop cookies – Casside Seezs, first; Cailey Sime, second; Hope Karels, third
Quick bread – Hope Karels, first; Casside Seezs, second
Fudge – Cailey Sime, first
Pies and Pastries – Krecia Leddy, first; William Karels, second
Special Diet Baked Food Product – Cailey Sime, first
Canned tomatoes – Bruce Johnson, first
Cucumber pickles – Bruce Johnson, first
Other pickles – Bruce Johnson, first
Jam or preserves – Owen Neely, first
Jelly – William Karels, first
Candid photo of person – Casside Seezs, first
Animals and/or with people – Cheryl Schweer, first; Delores Kelly, second
Landscape – Cheryl Schweer, first; Cheryl Schweer, second
Still Life (non-living inanimate object, indoors or outdoors) – Sydney Zenk, first; Cheryl Schweer, second
Close-Up – Cheryl Schweer, first; Delores Kelly, second
Tourism or Promotion – Sydney Zenk, first
Artistic Photography – Judy Lundberg, first
Watercolor painting – Elyse Reede, first; Hope Karels, second; Hunter Reede, third
Acrylic Painting – Hope Karels, first; Nadia Thue, second; Elyse Reede, third
Pen or pencil drawing – Nadia Thue, first
Pastel or chalk drawing – Sage Lawrence, first
Ceramic – Cailey Sime, first; Myles Pekelder, second
Metal craft – Darby Waniorek, first; Darby Waniorek, second
Paper scrapbooking – Sage Lawrence, first
Paper, other (origami, paper cutting, etc) – Hope Karels, first; Cailey Sime, second
Wood construction or finished article, large – William Karels, first; Owen Neely, second
Wood construction or finished article, small – Cailey Sime, first; Cailey Sime, second; Myles Pekelder, third
Self-Determined Educational Display – William Karels, first; Hope Karels, second

4-6 year old Lego winners – left, Bryton Blauert, second; right, Thomas Bass, first.

Top adult home exhibit winners – Cheryl Schweer. Not pictured is Krecia Leddy and Melissa Gall.

All the Lego contest participants.

11 and over Lego winners – left, Gerald Tschetter (accepting prize for sister Kirby Tschetter who was first); right, Becca Loehrer, second.

Public presentation participants, left to right, William Karels, Hope Karels, Kylee Mogen.

9-10 year old Lego winners – left, Carson Tschetter, second; right, Gerald Tschetter, first.

Top youth home exhibit winners – left, William Karels; right, Sydney Zenk.