At 12 years old, Adalyn Gilbert of Grass Lake continues to show her versatility as a youth showman at the Chelsea Community Fair.
Last year, she had the grand champion lamb, this year, in her first year showing pigs, her barrow “George” was crowned grand champion at the 85th Annual Chelsea Community Fair out of the about 100 swine entered.
She said she worked with the pig for 20 minutes every day leading up to fair and George likes vanilla wafers
Plus, she said, George is happy all the time.
The judge complimented George’s structure, body and top line in choosing him as the top swine in the show.
Reserve Champion pig went to 250-pound “Judy” owned by Heidi Fuchs. The senior at Dexter High School has a winning resume at the Chelsea Community Fair as well.
Like Gilbert, Fuchs, now 17, has been showing livestock at fair since she was quite young — 5 years old.
And she will be showing a steer Wednesday while Gilbert will have a feeder calf.
Fuchs said for treats, Judy likes marshmallows and cinnamon rolls.
The judge said Judy was “really good on the move” and was a “powerful” pig.
Fuchs also won the senior showmanship class, which makes her eligible to compete in the sweepstakes showmanship competition on Saturday night. During that competition, the winners of the senior showmanship classes compete against each other by showing all the different livestock species.
Last year, she was the runner-up in sweepstakes.
Competing in his last fair with his pigs was Jack McCalla of Dexter. This fair was his 11th year competing and when asked about his favorite memory, he harkened back to when he was 6 years old, his first time showing a pig, when he took home the grand champion trophy.
This year, for the first time, McCalla said he placed in showmanship, taking third place.
