By Samuel Sutton at the Fredericksburg Standard, Jan. 13, 2021
Even with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 89th annual Gillespie County Youth Livestock Show forged ahead Wednesday through Saturday, Jan. 6-9. There were a few changes, such as a revised schedule, a thinner crowd, and rules on who could show.
“If an exhibitor had COVID-19, he or she would fill out a substitution form,” said Lane Ottmers, president of the Gillespie County Youth Livestock Show (GCYLS). “That exhibitor had to be somebody who was entered in the show and then they could also have a sale spot for them.” Even with the challenges, Ottmers said the team was determined to hold this event for the area youth. “We did not let COVID-19 impact the sale or the show of any exhibitor,” Ottmers said. “We took it upon ourselves as a committee to make sure that we got them taken care of. We weren’t going to let COVID-19 impact their hard work.”
And, to give more people an opportunity to view, the GCYLS directors added a simulcast component, which could be seen on FBG.Live. “The simulcast was a huge hit,” Ottmers said. “People were able to communicate, businesses had them running and feed stores had them. It went better than expected.” Ottmers thanked Paige Findley and his team for the dedication to ensure the simulcast was a success. “I can’t say enough about them,” he said.
Ottmers spoke to Findley’s dedication to the community, giving his willingness to drop a prior engagement on short notice to set this up. “He, with the help of some of the directors, staged a camera so we could keep filming,” Ottmers said. “He just left his stuff here and said, ‘Hey, I trust y’all. I’ll be back later to set up for the sale, and we were able to do the show.” Ottmers expressed appreciation for everyone who had a hand in making this show possible, from the sales team, the ring workers, to the volunteers, and more.
The show began Wednesday around 2:00 PM, when lambs, meat goats, breeding sheep, and Angora goats were unloaded. Judging began around 5:00 PM, with the start of breeding sheep and Angora goat shows. The 2021 show wrapped up with the annual auction on Saturday. The final dollar amount is still being tabulated and will be released later this week. This year’s show was dedicated to the late Calvin Ransleben, a prominent figure at the stock show for over 70 years, as well as a Gillespie County commissioner.
Grand Champions
Grand champion award winners were named in each category during the three days of judging.
Winners included:
- Grand Champion Steer — Fredericksburg FFA member Cade Lehne.
- Grand Champion Meat Goat — Fredericksburg FFA member Kannon Danz.
- Grand Champion Market Hog — Landri Ottmers, Fredericksburg FFA.
- Grand Champion Market Lamb — Harper 4-Her Taelynn Tatsch.
- Grand Champion Pen of Broilers — Cross Mountain 4-Her Dawson Ransleben.
- Grand Champion Turkey — St. Mary’s 4-Her Trapper Cramer.
- Grand Champion Heifer — Harper 4-H’er Pecos Worrell.
- Grand Champion Angora Goat — Fredericksburg FFA member Daniel Raab.
- Grand Champion Breeding Sheep — Brittley Bowers, St. Mary’s 4-H.
- Grand Champion Ag Mechanics — Caleb Kruse and Estevan Avila of the Fredericksburg FFA.
Stock Show Numbers
A total of 251 exhibitors from Gillespie County 4-H clubs, 101 Fredericksburg High School FFA members, 41 Harper FFA members and 13 students with unlisted clubs showed. Entries included 196 lambs, 120 meat goats, 74 pens of cockrells, 60 pens of pullets, 51 steers, 27 turkey toms, 23 turkey hens, 23 breeding sheep and 14 heifers. In addition, 16 youth competed in the ag mechanics division with seven projects and 15 took part in the cutting torch competition.
Judges
- Beef cattle — Kolton Thigpen of Sweetwater.
- Market lambs — Adam Lira of Cleveland.
- Swine — Tadd Knight of Shallowater.
- Poultry — Dale Hyatt of College Station.
- Meat goats — Connor Newsome of Levelland.
- Angora goats — Justin Stieler of Kerrville.
- Breeding sheep — Aaron Jennings Fredonia.
- Ag Mechanics Show — Ron Krobot of Comfort and Rick Ford of Sam Houston State University.
- Show announcer and sound — Kyle Treibs.
Coming Up
Several shows coming up have been canceled due to COVID-19. Fort Worth and Kerrville shows were nixed, along with the national shows in Denver and Reno. Shows remaining are a scaled-back San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo from Feb. 11-28 at the Freeman Coliseum, the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, the Alternative Show in Fort Worth, and the Patriot Junior Market Steer Show in Abilene. Also on the schedule at this time is the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Rodeo Austin.
A new show has been added to the mix. The Grandstand, a state 4-H and FFA-sanctioned replacement livestock show is scheduled to take place Jan. 17-22 in Fredericksburg for junior livestock exhibitors in 30 counties affected by the cancellation of the Hill Country District Livestock Show in Kerrville. Read more about it in this issue. Dates and schedules for each of the shows are subject to change due to the ongoing pandemic.
Results, Photos
Photographs from the top winners at the 2020 Gillespie County Youth Livestock Show can be found in the D section of today’s Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. Results from the various divisions can also be found in today’s newspaper along with additional photographs from the show and sale.
Auction
Auction results are still being tabulated and will be published in the Jan. 20 edition.
See the original article: https://www.fredericksburgstandard.com/news/pushing-through-pandemic
