For most of the young people participating in the Youth and Peewee/Cloverbud Dairy Show at the Cass County Fair, the experience was a way for them to get involved in the community and show off their beloved cows and calves.

However, for 9-year-old Carlee Cady, the event was a way for her to carry on a family tradition and honor her late grandmother.

Carlee, of Decatur, won best beginner showman and came in third place for overall best showman at the dairy show Monday with her cow Josie. Carlee was encouraged by her mother, Randi Cady, to participate in dairy showmanship most of her life, primarily because it was a favorite pastime of Carlee’s grandmother, who died of cancer in April.

“We’ve been showing for years. My parents were dairy farmers, so this is a family tradition,” Randi said. “I’m very, very proud [of Carlee].”

Randi’s mother and Carlee’s grandmother, Joyce Accoe, ran Accoe Farms in Dowagiac with her husband Dave prior to her death at the age of 61.

A leader in Cass County 4-H for 39 years, Accoe was heavily involved in the Cass County community and the Cass County Fair in particular.

“[Accoe] was very proud of her kids and grandkids and loved being at the fair,” Randi said. “It really was her favorite time of year.”

In addition to Carlee’s run in the Youth Dairy Show, the family has also found a more permanent way to honor Accoe’s memory at the Cass County Fairgrounds.

Because Accoe loved the Cass County Fair, she asked that memorial contributions, which were to be made after her death, be used to toward improvements to the dairy building located on the fairgrounds site.

“This is what Joyce wanted her memorial to be,” Accoe’s husband Dave said. “She wanted it to go to the dairy barn, which she loved.”

With the memorial dedication, Dave, Randi and Randi’s husband, Matt Cady, painted the dairy building and put down fresh dirt and sand.

The family has also placed a small memorial site, consisting of flowers and a rock from Accoe Farms engraved with Accoe’s name, at the entrance of the dairy building. Dussel’s Farm Market and Greenhouse helped with making the memorial.

Between the renovations to the dairy building and the family’s continued dedication to showing dairy cows at the fair, Randi believes she is properly honoring her mother’s memory and keeping her spirit alive.

“I think she’s smiling down on us right now,” Randi said. “I think she would be really proud.”

For her part, Carlee was excited to have done so well in dairy competition.

“It feels really good to have won [best beginner showman],” Carlee said. “I want to keep doing it, get first or second place in best overall showman next year and make [my family] proud.”