ST. PAUL – Four steers with finished weights ranging from 1,355 to 1,596 pounds were in the Parade of Champions at Friday’s St. Paul 4-H Multi Club’s Beef Project Achievement Day.
Conformation, Showmanship and Grooming judge Jenine Ruzika gave the grand championship slap to Kale Lavoie’s 1,379-pound steer and chose Ethan Yaremko’s 1,355-pound steer as reserve champion from the other finalists, including steers shown by Brielle Lavoie and David Morin.
Ethan’s and Brielle’s steers were chosen from the first weight class of eight steers all within a 50-pound range of finished weight, while Kale and David’s came from the second class of seven with a whopping 250-pound weight range.
Surprisingly, the Rate of Gain winner, with a gain of 3.22 pounds per day, was not one of the championship finalists - that award went to Kurt Yaremko.
The championship round followed an afternoon that started with the two-entry Female class, Ethan taking first and Kurt second prize for a very promising pair of heifers.
All 15 members, divided into three age groups, competed in judging, grooming and showmanship. In the Junior group, Payslee Trefenanko placed first and Arley Lavoie second in both grooming and showmanship, with Brody Trefenanko first, and Kash Kopecky second in judging.
Another pair of winners led the Intermediate group, Kurt Yaremko first and Kale Lavoie second in not only grooming and showmanship, but also in judging.
Ethan Yaremko placed first in all three Senior categories, with Courtney Werstiuk second in grooming, Christian Lavoie second in showmanship, and Mercedes Trefenanko second in judging.
With all those awards handed out, along with gifts for club president Christian Lavoie, 4-H Ambassador Courtney Werstiuk, judge Jenine Ruzika and ringmaster Edith Fontaine, there was still time for one more class – a hilarious competition that saw all the 4-H dads enter the ring to judge a class of four varieties of cookies, and then to give oral reasons for their placings. The win went to former St. Paul 4-H member David Lavoie.
