Record bids kick off Summit sale

TALLMADGE, Ohio – This year’s Summit County Fair livestock auction started out with few buyers in the barn, but those few started the sale out just right by setting two records in the first half of the sale.
Gobbling good. Holding winning positions in four species, 4-H’er Alisa Shenigo started her night by breaking her own record with her grand champion turkey. Shenigo’s turkey sold to Summit Racing Equipment for $350, topping her old record of $330 set in 2003.
Carlena Helms’ reserve champion turkey broke another record, selling for $295 to J.Z. Wildbunch/Feed the Hungry. The bid erased last year’s record of $275.
Anne Weiss sold her grand champion meat pen of chickens to Do It Rite for $325.
Carlena Helms held a reserve spot again, this time for her pen of chickens, which sold to Jim’s Electrical Service for $253.
Twelve pens of chickens averaged $165 with champions and $135.50 without champions.
Helms also won the turkey and waterfowl showmanship awards and raised the two champion pens of ducks. Her grand champion pen sold to Leppo Inc. for $275 and Jim’s Electrical Service bought the reserve pen of ducks for $200.
Megan Schott won the poultry showmanship award.
Rabbit foot lucky. The small animal sale ended as it began, with another new record.
The only 4-H’er to sell rabbits this year was Seth Hendrickson.
He sold his grand champion pen of rabbits for $590 to Infocision, beating his 2003 record of $525.
Andrew Turchak won the rabbit showmanship award.
An hour after the small animal auction the sale was to resume with the large animals, but the bidding was held off so that buyers who were stuck in busy traffic wouldn’t miss the start.
First for goats. For the first time, the Summit County Fair livestock sale included goats.
Bill Ketring raised both the grand and reserve. His grand champion goat sold to Dun Deal Farm for $175 and Duma’s Meats bought his reserve champion goat for $100.
The family workman award went to the Luther family, which includes 4-H’ers Brian, Edward and Andy Luther.
Hog. In the hog sale, Alisa Shenigo sold her 259-pound grand champion market hog to Leppo Inc. for $5 a pound.
Leppo Inc. also bought fair queen Danielle Hasbrouck’s 290-pound reserve champion hog for $3.75.
The high bidding for the hog sale did not stop there.
At the end of the hog sale, 4-H’ers clapped and hollered to encourage buyers as the bidding intensified over the last two sellers, Tim Dombroski and Jessica Burns, who were not allowed to show this year due to missed deadlines.
Burns’ 241-pound hog sold to Beal Auto Service for $4.50 a pound, which outbid the reserve champion hog.
She also won the hog workman award.
The 44 hogs in the sale made up $21,748.10 of the auction.
The hogs sold averaged $368.90, with champions, and $335.58, without.
Lambs. This year’s big winner, Alisa Shenigo also raised the 121-pound grand champion lamb, which sold for $5 a pound to Leppo Inc.
Fair queen Danielle Hasbrouck sold her 122-pound reserve champion lamb to Duma’s Meats for $3 a pound.
Melanie Vohnout won the lamb workman award.
Alisa Shenigo won the lamb show of showmanship and overall county showmanship awards.
The nine lambs sold in the sale totaled $3,320.10.
The lambs averaged $368.90 with champions and $335.58, without champions.
Steers. The top two winning spots in the steer sale went to Alisa Shenigo.
Her 1,288-pound grand champion steer sold to Beaver Stump Removal for $2.30 a pound.
She sold her 1,171-pound reserve champion steer to Duma’s Meats for $1.50 a pound.
The end of the sale wrapped up what seemed to be the general theme of the auction with more fierce bidding action and enthusiasm from the 4-H’ers.
Chris Marhoffer’s 1,307-pound steer earned an upset in the record books, selling for $4.40 a pound to the Akron Area Buyer Group. The previous record, set in 2003, was $3.80 a pound.
Marhoffer, in his last year as a 4-H’er, was also not allowed to show at the fair due to the missed deadline, but he won the steer workman and steer show of showman awards, as well as rate of gain honors.
The total for the 12 steers sold came to $21,748.10.
The average steer sold for $1,668.65, including the champions, and $1,030.49, without champions.
Auctioneer Jonathan Polcen conducted the sale that had 93 registered bidders and totaled $55,464.55.
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4-H’ers not allowed to show in Summit Co.
By Sarah Ubry
TALLMADGE, Ohio – Tears filled many Summit County 4-H’ers eyes when it was announced three of their fellow members would not be allowed to show at the 2004 Summit County Fair.
No show. Second-year member Jessica Burns and first-year member Tim Dombroski along with Chris Marhoffer in his last year of 4-H were not allowed to participate in the showmanship and market classes because their registration papers for the fair were not been turned in by the July 1 deadline.
“The county rules and fair rules are in place to benefit all of the 4-H’ers,” said Summit County Extension Educator Edrice Robinson-Wyatt.
“Everyone is made aware of the rules and when the rules aren’t followed, they can’t be bent just for one person.”
Concerns. Parents of the 4-H’ers spoke to Farm and Dairy about their concerns but would not go on record.
The parents generally felt that they didn’t know why this had happened and that it was a mistake for it to have happened to three families.
Jessica Burns, one of the barred 4-H’ers, said that she would take some of the blame but felt that more should have been done.
“I’ll always admit to doing something wrong,” Burns said, “but last year we filled papers out as a group, we’re always signing and filling papers out and not always knowing what they are.”
Filling out papers can be confusing for any first- or second-year member, and Burns said she’s also to blame for Tim Dombroski, her neighbor, not being able to enter since she’s been helping him.
“This was Tim’s first year and if I don’t get my papers done, he doesn’t,” said Burns.
Disappointment. Burns said this experience was disappointing, especially after working with her hogs every day in between juggling sports and school.
“I know it’s my fault. I’m 16 years old, I should have got the papers in,” she said, “but the advisers give out the papers, they’re the ones there to help out.”
Even though the three were not allowed to show, they were permitted to sell their animals at the Summit County Fair livestock auction.
Moving on. Burns said this won’t discourage her from being in 4-H next year.
“I’m not going to let it bother me,” she said. “I’m going to get a steer next year and work even harder.”