JEFFERSON — Sydney Streich, dressed in breeches, riding boots, a black jacket and helmet, stood outside the horse area holding the reins.
“This is Gatlin,” she said. “I’ve owned him for seven years and I’ve been showing him for those seven years.” The 20-year-old horse is 17.2 hands tall, just slightly above average for the horses waiting for their turn to be shown.
Like most 4-H and FFA students showing during this week’s Jefferson County Fair, Streich began the program years earlier and grew up in it.
“Seven years ago, I had just gotten him for my 11th birthday, and so I was a little nervous, and I didn’t know all of his buttons. I’m more confident now, and I set higher goals for myself,” Streich said. “I push myself harder. I know him better than I have ever before.”
Streich, a member of the South Side Eagles 4-H Club, remembers being a younger equestrian and receiving help and advice from the older riders. Now, she is able to do that both as a senior and as this year’s Equestrian Ambassador.
“I feel like a lot of kids come to me and ask for help. I love that, because I love to help people and help them reach their goals as I had people do [for me] when I was younger,” Streich said.
“I’m a mentor to the others, and I try to help them as much as I possibly can to help them be successful.”
During the fair this week, Streich will be participating in several events with Gatlin — and because she’s only a senior, she still has two more summers of showing at the 4-H Fair.
LOOKING BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL
After graduating, the students who show animals and other projects at the fair have two more years of participation before they become part of the open class.
Trysten Chwala, who is in his final year, no longer shows with 4-H but rather the Wisconsin Brown Swiss Association.
“I like it because I can do my own thing without a bunch of people,” he said. “And this isn’t the only show I go to; I show nationally as well.”
The biggest difference between 13 years ago, when he started showing animals, and now, is the sense of independence. “I’ve grown with one animal that I brought here that I started with,” he said about one of his older cows.
Chwala has shown pigs, sheep, horses, rabbits and dairy cattle over the years, though his favorite has always been dairy. In fact, he’d like to start his own trucking company to haul livestock across the country — a valuable job, especially when he already has years of experience under his belt.
To be an older kid in the 4-H and FFA barns at the fair means looking forward to your own future while helping the younger students grow to take your place.
A ROLE MODEL
“They look up to you as a role model,” Alisha Sheshina, who shows beef cattle with the Waterloo FFA, said.
“I mean, I kind of look up to them too, being one of the people that has come into this later in the game. A lot of the younger kids have helped me, and I’ve helped them with other things. It’s a back-and-forth relationship.”
Amy Kamenick, a senior in Fort Atkinson’s Rock River Clovers 4-H Club, has participated in 4-H since she was a little kid in the Cloverbuds and eventually took on showing dairy and pigs, first with the help of her mom.
This year, she chose her pig herself when it was only 50 pounds — now, it weighs in at 260 pounds due to its calculated feed and supplement plan designed by Kamenick. Becoming truly independent with her project has set this year’s experience apart from her younger years in 4-H, when she was largely supported by others.
“I definitely try to help out the younger people in my club the best I can, especially this year with me being the president of my 4-H Club,” Kamenick said.
When it comes to the kids showing pigs, the older members of the group know each other well and have mentored the younger students. “With the younger kids, we’re at the point where we help each other out, which is really great,” she said.
With the dairy team, there is still work to be done showing kids how to work the barn, wash your animal, tie a rope harness and other tasks.
Becoming a mentor for younger students has helped Kamenick build the organization and communication skills in college, where she aims to get a business and marketing degree from a four-year university.
But going to college won’t be the end of Kamenick’s work in agriculture, as she wants to pursue a career in agriculture marketing.
A FORCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT
For 2023 and 2024 Fairest of the Fair Danielle Chwala, finishing college coincided with an unexpected second year as the Fairest.
“I feel more confident in what I’m doing myself, because I’ve already been through it once, so I’ve been able to learn the ropes and now I get to fully go through and do it, and I get to implement new things,” Chwala reflected.
This year, she has little cards with the Fairest of the Fair logo, and room to write messages to people. Chwala is able to meet with exhibitors, talk with them about their projects, and then return later in the fair with a handwritten note of encouragement to show that their work is valuable and matters to her.
“If there is a project in the activity center that a youth did and I really liked it, I’ll write them a note and leave it with their project. Or even if I meet a really nice food vendor, or I really like their food, I can write them notes and get the Fairest out there besides, like, ‘Oh, she just hands out ribbons, that’s all she does,’’’ Chwala said.
As a kid who grew up showing animals at the fair, it means a lot to be an active role model and force for encouragement in the younger kids’ fair experience.
“As a previous exhibitor myself, I know how hard it is to get animals ready and bring them to the fair and do the whole week. My favorite part is seeing their hard work pay off and them being excited about it,” she said.
“When I was little, my dream was to be Fairest of the Fair. I absolutely loved seeing the Fairest all the time,” Chwala said. Her dream came true last year, and she is able to repeat it while the Jefferson County Fair shifts the schedule of crowning a new Fairest to the winter, rather than summer.
“One of the Fairest of the Fairs, when I first started showing… braided my hair almost every day of the fair, just because I looked up to her,” Chwala said.
As a kid, a highlight of exhibiting animals was taking her picture with the Fairest and feeling like all the work she put into her project was appreciated and worth it.
Chwala graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Platteville this past winter with a degree in elementary education, with hopes of teaching in the area and staying close to the 4-H programs she grew up around. For now, she continues acting as a mentor and cheering on the kids who will grow up to one day be senior exhibitors and future Fairests.
“It means a lot to know that I make a difference in these kids’ lives,” she said.
Most Popular
Comments / 0