Swine show winners display their determination

BY NIKKI BURKHAMER 

Examiner Contributor 

A large, faithful crowd watched the Logan County Fair Show Arena with interest Monday evening, July 7, as Brock Thompson from Pleasantville judged the area youth while they showed their pigs. 

Thompson has more than 22 years of swine judging experience in at least 20 states.  He has spent his entire life raising pigs.  

When asked what he thought of Logan County Junior Fair’s Swine Show, he said, “They are very good pigs, and good kids as well.”

Incoming Benjamin Logan sixth-grader Hayden Baxley swept two of the top awards in the contest — grand champion market barrow and reserve grand champion market gilt.

A son of Kelly and Lyndsey Baxley and Whitley and Chris Carnes, Hayden has been blessed with some swine swagger, also securing a grand champion pennant last year for his market barrow. 

The Logan County Livestock 4-H member detailed the sacrifice needed to be a winner.

“It takes getting up early around 6 a.m. and being in the barn until 9 a.m., and sometimes until 9 p.m,” he said. “You spend a lot of time washing and feeding. 

“I also go to a lot of Jack Pot Shows in our state, and it’s basically giving the right mixture of feed. I give them multiple types of stuff, and if they are too overweight you take some of that away. If they need more weight, you can add more food. You also need to make sure that you have enough time for your animals.”

Ricky Tevis was awarded grand champion for her market gilt. As an incoming senior at Benjamin Logan High School, Ricky is involved in FFA, there, and Logan County Livestock is her 4-H club.  

“I made sure I did everything I could for my pigs to get the best outcome,” she noted. “This win shows all the hard work and dedication I put in over the summer. I just made sure that I could be the best I could be for my pigs so they would succeed.”

Gage Downing captured reserve grand champion honors for his market barrow. A son of Jerry and Jennifer Downing of DeGraff, he is a member of the Miami Valley Producers 4-H Club. 

While this mom noted that Gage is a man of few words, the Indian Lake Schools fourth-grader was excited enough to say that he felt great after winning the reserve award at his first time ever showing in the swine show. 

“Yeah, it’s good. I feel amazing,” Gage said.