“My uncle helped raise me and L A T H he’s always been into animals,” Larry recalls of his childhood. “We met a man along the way who showed ani- mals so I got a good pair of chickens and just went from there.” “It gets pretty addicting once you start.” True enough, Larry showed animals all the way up to when he went to college. We’ve all seen them in county and state fairs—the rows and rows of animals, all gussied up standing next to their kids in cag- es adorned with ribbons and tags. 4-H Livestock Shows are the talk of the town in many rural towns. And Larry knew this was a great next step for Chloe, his then five-year-old daughter. “To show, you have to have good quality animals,” Larry says. He set about trying to find Chloe animals she could show her- self. He found a contact in Indiana and the family traveled up to see the brood that was for sale. “Chloe instantly fell in love with them,” he recalls. And that is how Chloe met Rachale. Now, before every show, Chloe wipes Rachale down, cleans her legs, sprays her down to make her look shiny, and pinches her tail. Together, the pair have seen many accolades. “We’ve won medals, lots of ribbons, and plaits. We’ve won trophies and money too,” she says. Rachale wins because she is special, according to Chloe. “She is friendly and pretty and she has a nice body shape and nice legs,” she says. “She has a good beak. Everything is good about her.” Chloe likes to do shows because it means she can show off Rachale and her other birds. But it also means that she can see other birds, too. “I want them to see my birds and I get to see other birds that are special, too,” she says. Right now, Chloe can’t see a future where livestock showing isn’t a big part of her life. It’s something that makes Larry very proud, the connection that live- stock showing brings throughout the generations of their family. “Having the same interests and having some bonding time getting them ready and cleaned up for shows is spe- cial,” he says. “It’s actually pretty neat.” The pair is working to bring the same opportunities to more kids like Chloe in their county. They started by recruiting little brother, Dunker, into the family business. He loves showing his favorite duck, Cheeks. “In Ballard, there aren’t that many people interested in show- ing,” says Larry. “We are trying to get more kids and families into it in this area.” The pair even held their own livestock program through Ballard County 4-H. And Chloe is sharing her experiences with the kids in her school. “My friends think I am losing my mind because they really don’t know that I show,” she says. “But when I brought a book to my school and I showed them pictures, they were so jealous of my wins.” For Larry and Amanda, the efforts are more than the wins, the love of animals or even the time spent together packing buckets of feed with their children—they are a connection to their faith and an investment in the future that they can see right before their eyes. “God is first in our lives and teaching our kids to care for all the animals in the kingdom is something we take very seriously,” says Amanda. “We couldn’t do this without our faith in God.” “Showing animals and taking care of animals taught me a lot of responsibility and matured me as a younger kid,” says Larry. “I can see it doing the same thing to Chloe.” 24 NOVEMBER 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM S T O Y N E T U
