Hanson sisters bring home the blue at Benton Co. fair
La Porte-Dysart FFA members exhibit well in dairy, meat goat shows
Jillian Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA listens to the judge during the Dairy Show at the Benton County Fair on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Jillian Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA (left) shows her Brown Swiss senior yearling heifer in the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. Hanson's mother Maureen Hanson (red shirt) is visible smiling proudly just behind Jillian's heifer, Sylvia. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
La Porte-Dysart FFA President and Bruce Boosters 4-H Club member Olivia Hanson smiles moments before entering the arena with her Brown Swiss heifer calf, Caramel, during the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Olivia Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA smiles while listening to the judge during the Dairy Show at the Benton County Fair on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Sisters Jillian and Olivia Hanson chat ahead of the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Olivia Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA smiles next to her female Boer goat ‘Cricket’ on Thursday, June 23, in Vinton, following the Benton County Fair Meat Goat Show. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
As members of both the La Porte-Dysart FFA and Benton County’s Bruce Boosters 4-H Club, sisters Olivia and Jill Hanson took home multiple blue ribbons following this past weekend’s Benton County Fair held in Vinton.
In both the Meat Goat Show on Thursday and Dairy Show on Friday, the Hansons’ represented their chapter and club well.
Olivia’s Boer goat ‘Dixie’ was crowned Grand Champion Breeding Doe, while Jill’s wether ‘Grover’ took home Reserve Champion Market Goat.
In the Dairy Show, Jill’s Brown Swiss senior yearling heifer ‘Sylvia’ won Champion Brown Swiss, Reserve Champion Junior Dairy, and Reserve Supreme Champion Dairy Female, while Olivia just edged out her younger sibling to win Winners Showmanship with her calf ‘Caramel’.
“One of the things that catches your eye – the way she moves,” the Dairy Show judge said of Jill’s heifer Sylvia. “An easy purple and blue ribbon winner. … That heifer caught my eye the first time she came in the ring.”
Of Olivia’s calf, the judge also had several compliments to share.
“Good representation of the Brown Swiss breed … if there was competition [in the Brown Swiss Heifer Calves class] I think she would do very very well,” the judge said of Caramel.
As the two sisters later competed against one another for Winners Showmanship, the judge remarked: “These two young ladies have done an excellent job of showing their Swiss.”
Although exhibiting in the Dairy Show is not either sister’s favorite part of the fair experience, Olivia told the Telegraph there’s a very special reason they continue to participate in the show each year – for their mom, Maureen Hanson, who grew up on a dairy farm.
Tama County Fair
With the Benton County fair now in the books, many of the Telegraph’s readers will be setting their sights on the Tama County Fair, which is scheduled to run July 11-17, in Gladbrook.
The Telegraph will feature coverage of the Tama County Fair in the July 15 and July 22 editions.
Jillian Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA listens to the judge during the Dairy Show at the Benton County Fair on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Jillian Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA (left) shows her Brown Swiss senior yearling heifer in the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. Hanson’s mother Maureen Hanson (red shirt) is visible smiling proudly just behind Jillian’s heifer, Sylvia. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
La Porte-Dysart FFA President and Bruce Boosters 4-H Club member Olivia Hanson smiles moments before entering the arena with her Brown Swiss heifer calf, Caramel, during the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Olivia Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA smiles while listening to the judge during the Dairy Show at the Benton County Fair on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Olivia Hanson of Bruce Boosters 4-H Club/La Porte-Dysart FFA smiles next to her female Boer goat ‘Cricket’ on Thursday, June 23, in Vinton, following the Benton County Fair Meat Goat Show. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Sisters Jillian and Olivia Hanson chat ahead of the Benton County Fair Dairy Show on Friday, June 24, in Vinton. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker