The summer of Winter
Published 5:47 pm Sunday, August 19, 2012
BERRIEN SPRINGS — It’s the summer of Winter at the 67th annual Berrien County Youth Fair.
Leader photo/JOHN EBY Winter Scheer with a llama.
Bridgman’s Winter Scheer, 18, won the Showmanship Sweepstakes Saturday on her third try. With two years of eligibility remaining in a contest conducted since 1973, the equine representative could challenge Scott Foster’s 1976-78 record reign.
Winter’s already a lock in the horse ring, winning an unprecedented third straight Jack Dean Memorial.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Scheer, who will be attending Southwestern Michigan College this fall. “I’m so excited. I never thought it would happen. I was not expecting this at all. The last two times I was fifth and sixth.”
“I only do horses, so all of it is kind of hard,” she said. “I practice all the time” and shows year-round.
Scheer struggled to contain her dairy cow, but it was llamas representative Amanda Olszewski who was knocked down during the beef segment.
Contestants come from senior showmanship winners of the large animal departments of sheep, swine, beef, dairy, llamas/alpacas, the Dean Memorial winner from equine and the senior showman selected to represent the goat division.
Each sweepstake contestant shows competitively against the others in each respective livestock department.
Because Aaron Pastryk won swine and beef, six advanced to the sweepstakes.
Olszewski finished sixth, with dairy’s Tyler Wasko fifth; sheep’s Alexandra Durm fourth; goats’ John Wunderlich third; and Pastryk second.
Winter wins the Erich and Connie Norris plaque and a rosette ribbon, the Randy R. Kirk Memorial $100 savings bond donated by Farrell and Bev Kirk and the replacement plaque donated by Carrie George.
Other participants receive a rosette and a gift certificate donated by the Kirk family and the Kuntz family 4M Farm.
Judges included Dean Hass of Cassopolis, swine; Amy Franks of Paw Paw, equine; Carol Bloom of Westville, Ind., sheep; Megan Tomasek of China, Mich., llamas; Don Bloom of Westville, Ind., beef; and Brett Bowman of Niles, dairy.
Brooke Totzke chairs the BCYF Showmanship Sweepstakes Committee, with Jane Mitchell as vice chair and members Lloyd Burns, Kathy Clark, Gail Freehling, Carrie George, Elaine McKee and Stephanie Kirk.
