By Kerry Rahm
krahm@wbcowqel.com
She was already a master at showing goats, but Kendyl Guinther’s overall skill, laser focus, and commitment helped her take the Showman of Showmen title at Friday night’s Crawford County Fair.
She did so, remarkably, by placing third in almost every species class available.
Fellow contestants Riley Erwin, who won senior showman for horses, took second place, and Lori Millenbaugh, senior showman for Steers, took third overall.
Guinther first proved her mettle by winning senior showman at Wednesday’s goat show. The 4-H Dairy Maids and Gents member was already excited and gearing up for the big game, so to speak.
Guinther, who often wore a look of intense concentration on her face, seemed unshakably cool in the throes of the contest.
But after all was said and done, she was just a truly excited teenager with a shiny brand new title.
“Oh, this is even better than before! This is what I wanted to do forever, and I’ve done it!”
When asked if she knew how well she was doing, and if she realized that she was consistently placing third, Guinther said, “I did glance up at the board, and I did notice that I was getting third.
“I didn’t have time to look at other people’s scores. I was trying to make sure the judges didn’t think I was looking away or anything. I tried my hardest to keep an eye on what I was doing. I knew I was doing pretty good, I didn’t know I was doing… great,” she said as she hoisted the showman trophy, a gesture to signify she was still slightly in shock.
Her most difficult animal?
“The alpacas, because…” she thought for a moment, and then answered honestly. “Because I don’t really like alpacas that much! But the heat, it worked really good for me, I couldn’t have asked for a better alpaca.”
The heat was just another obstacle in the competition, and in hindsight, helped Guinther realize her easiest exhibit of the night.
“The easiest one, I didn’t think it before I went in the ring, but was probably my steer, and it was a heifer that was actually in heat, so it did very good for being in heat and not acting up or anything like that.”
When some of the other kids showing the dairy cattle had marked difficulties, Guinther said of her heifer, “I was just glad that it didn’t drag me or anything… it stayed there!” she said with relief.
Guinther reflected on why the swine judge gave the contestants very little time in the ring with their pigs.
“The reason she didn’t have us be with our pigs the whole time is because it’s so hot, and we didn’t want to put them in stress, but she asked us questions about ear notches. When I showed pigs when I was younger, I never really learned the ear notch stuff, so I did… kind of… bad there,” she admitted.
“But they ask how much would you butcher it, the weight and everything. And we used to show pigs, so I knew that, but I just kind of guessed on the ear notches. And that’s probably why I got fifth in that,” she said.
Fifth place was her lowest placement throughout the competition.
Guinther’s mother Amy, related that she had been watching the scores, and also noted the amount of third place finishes her daughter secured.
“Three was our lucky number,” she said.
And with that, Guinther wanted to thank her parents, Amy and Todd.
“My mom and dad,” she said. “They always have pushed me to do my hardest, and it’s finally paid off.”
Taylor Lutz was also on hand, performing her ceremonial duties as the reigning 2016 Junior Fair Queen, but she knows a little about Showman of Showman herself, as the two-time title holder for 2014 and 2015.
She reminisced on what she struggled with during her time in the contest.
“I guess probably the hardest part was just packing all of that information in your brain in such a little time, and remaining calm during the whole process, I think that’s the key thing, is to just remain calm and have fun with it.”
Allison Cooper, 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator wanted to give credit and thanks to all those who helped behind the scenes to organize this year’s Showman of Showmen event.
“It takes a lot of effort from all the different livestock committees. They are great about getting the animals lined up, having everything prepared… The junior fair kids do a lot of work; they get all the cards ready, we print up the programs, but just all of the effort from all of the kids and the livestock committee, and without them, we wouldn’t be able to pull this off.”