By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
They say that all records are meant to be broken and on Saturday at the Crawford County Fair’s Sale of Champions it was no different as several records fell.
Records went down early and often, as Junior Fair exhibitors saw their hard work pay off in 
dividends when their champion livestock were sold to buyers from the local agriculture and business community.
The first record broken came on just the third sale of the day which was Emily Rudd’s Grand Champion kid for $2,300 to ELR out of New Washington, and First Federal Bank. Rudd explained what it meant having a record-breaking champion.
“It feels great. I worked really hard for it, and I mean I am really upset to give him up, but that is part of the project, I guess,” Rudd said. “All good things must come to an end.”
The next record to fall came a short while later as Atlee Miller’s Overall Grand Champion hog sold to Avita Health Systems for $4,700. Miller was happy that her fine swine took the record.
“It feels pretty good,” Miller said. “It takes a lot to get here, you have to feed them every day, you have to wake up early, and not everybody gets this chance to sell their pig at the highest record.”
Records fell by the wayside on the next three animals sold with Alexus Burkhart’s reserve champion hog going for $4,300. Craig Smith Auto Group and Elite Excavating combined forces to tie the record for the alpacas’ and llamas’ gift basket went for $4,500 initially. After the final bid was placed numerous $100 add-ons to the bid put the alpaca over the record mark.
Craig Smith explained what makes purchasing at the Sale of Champions important.
“To me it is the most important event of the year because it is the heartland of America, and it is supporting family business, and family work ethic, and I love that,” Smith said.
Lori Millenbaugh’s steer originally sold for $7,500 to Scott Nichols, owner McDonald’s of Bucyrus and Galion. However, after bidding had ended a $2,600 add-on put the prized bovine $100 over the previous record of $10,000.
One of the buyers whose name came up often was Schiefer’s Insurance. Jeff Schiefer explained what it meant to be a purchaser at the Sale of Champions.
“To participate at the fair means a lot to my business and my family,” Schiefer said. “We have been involved in this for years. My dad was a real big (fair) supporter as the founder of our agency. He passed away a year ago, and we kept the legacy going with my sister and brother, so it means a lot to us.”
The bidding and flow of cash continued after the Sale of Champions for the rest of the Junior Fair livestock exhibitors who sold their animals.