Tharp, Bradley Show Class at Cass Co. Fair
Published: Friday, August 13, 2021
Mary Tharp's competitive spirit is alive and well.
Going into last week's Cass County (Mich.) Fair, the 19-year-old daughter of Bob and Heather Tharp of Niles was talking about possibly making her final appearance as a 4-H'er in the show ring.
Fitting in training and preparations around her full-time job as a team leader at the Meijer store in Stevensville was becoming just too difficult.
But then, her 1,200-pound market steer was judged to be grand champion in the beef show and sold for $5,520 ($4.60 per pound) to Mike Breisch representing the Hartford Glass Buyers Club of Mishawaka and Looking for Deer Lease of Edwardsburg in last Thursday's large animal auction.
In the amount of time it takes to shout "Sold!", Tharp was reinvigorated.
"I can show one more year because of where my birthday falls, and after this (performance) I said, 'Oh, I'm definitely showing next year,' " she said. "I'm so busy and it's not easy to make time for all of this, but it paid off and I know I'll regret it if I don't do it.
"So, I'm going to give it a go one more year and might try a new animal, too."
Tharp's steer also finished third in Friday's Large Animal Showmanship Sweepstakes for an overall performance that topped anything her four older siblings and four younger ones have done. Bragging rights are hard to come by growing up in Tharps' big family, and something to be treasured when they come your way.
"Everybody in our family has shown," Tharp said of her brothers and sisters who, like her, were or are being homeschooled. "The four oldest have aged out, so I'm the oldest one showing at the moment."
Tharp's older brother, Jonathan, set the family standard two years ago by being named overall showman in dairy.
"I'm the second one (to win) but the first one to ever do well in market, so it just kind of like topped the cake," she said. "We are all very competitive, but we're like that in everything, not just 4-H.
"We were never allowed to win growing up. If our dad beat us, he won fair and square whether we were playing sports, playing games or playing cards – anything. He never went easy on us, and that really made us competitive. I could never beat him at basketball but I could always beat him at baseball or soccer because he can't run very well, but he never lets us win just so we can win."
Tharp's passion for showing took off in 2017 when her sheltie took overall showmanship in the dog show.
"That came out of nowhere; no one saw it coming and that made me very happy," she said. "That just kind of lit a fire in me and I was like, 'Oh, I want more of this—I want to do well, I want to spend my money to do well and I want to love the project how other people love their projects.'"
Younger sister Elizabeth gave her a run for her money in the beef show, but settled for reserve champion in the lightweight category.
"We definitely were taking bets on who was going to beat the other sister," Tharp said. "It was not an easy class for anybody."
Tharp's dog did well in agility this year.
"He's about to retire and I'm going to start showing my border collie," she said. "I travel around and do circuit shows, like AKC shows."
Including Saturday's small animal auction, the Cass County Fair brought in a grand total of $559,626.15 on 580 lots. The large animals brought in $437,726.15 including: $165,371.50 for beef; $146,889.25 for swine; $71,471.50 for dairy feeders, $42,364.90 for lambs, and $11,629 for milk.
Tharp's total was tops per pound for market beef— not bad for someone in the twilight of her 4-H career.
Tharp attributed at least some of her success to former Cass County Fair standouts Callie High and Cameron Hayden, who at the 165th Cass County Fair in 2016 set a record with his fourth consecutive showmanship sweepstakes title.
"I grew up watching them," she said. "They were always just spot-on and always happy whether they won or lost. I just loved to see how much fun they had."
Edwardsburg's Jena Bradley, a familiar face in the Cass County Fair winner's circle over the years, showed the reserve champion market steer in addition to taking top honors in the sheep show. The hefty 1,400-pound steer sold for $6,300 ($4.50 per pound) to Hibsham Screw Machine.
Bradley's grand champion market lamb garnered $35 per pound for a total of $5,210 to a buyers' group that included: her grandparents Paul and Kathy Sweitzer, C. Wimberly Auto Group GMC, Elk Park Feed Store, Edd's Supplies Inc., and Hibsham Screw Machine Products Inc.
Bradley also won her second straight Large Animal Showmanship Sweepstakes championship.
Katherine Gregory of Edwardsburg followed Bradley into the auction ring with her reserve champion market lamb. Elk Park Feed Store paid $810 ($6 per pound) for the animal.
At $2.25 a pound, the 1,510-pound grand champion dairy beef steer exhibited by Nicholas Green sold for $3,397.50 to Community Mills.
Mallary Dohm of Dowagiac picked up reserve champion dairy beef steer honors with her 1,360-pound animal. The steer sold for $1,904 ($1.40) per pound to Community Mills.
Kyla Sparks of Cassopolis auctioned off her 635-pound grand champion dairy feeder for $3 per pound, or $2,005, to Butch Bender, the Andersons, and Elk Park Feed Store. Grace Krager's reserve champion weighed 560 pounds sold for $1,540 ($2.75 per pound) to High Farms.
Mattison Daniels of Cassopolis brought the grand champion barrow to the swine auction. The 242-pound pig sold for $4,347.50 ($10 per pound) to Community Mills and Bender. The 244-pound reserve champion market hog was sold by Jackson Whitmyer for $2,928 ($6 per pound) to Lori Whitmyer of Edgewood Farms in Cassopolis.
The gallon of milk from the dairy barn, received $11,626 for youth dairy project exhibitors from members of a support group listed at the end of the story.
The small animal auction raised $121,900 for the following breeds: rabbits ($38,720), goats ($38,410), poultry ($18,965), ducks ($18,060), turkeys ($5,195), geese ($1,550) and a dozen eggs ($1,000).
In rabbits, Jenna Tone's champion fryer sold for $1,075 to Masten Farms and the reserve of Alyssa Wright went for $800 to Rachael and Joe Tone and family, and Community Mills. Ella Richmond's champion roaster sold for $650 to the Hartford Glass Buyers Club and Looking for Deer Lease while the reserve champion roaster fetched $450 from B&Q Machine Inc.
Johanna McDonald exhibited the grand champion meat goat, which went for $1,300 to a support group consisting of McDonald Underground, Unique Cutting and the Smith Family. Adam Starr's reserve champion meat goat commanded $1,600 from the support group of: Adam Starr Buyers Club, Four Seasons Percherons and R&C Farms.
Avery Bergen's Buyers Group paid $1,215 for the grand champion crossbred market group shown by Avery Bergen. Leo Hedrick sold the reserve champion crossbred for $1,500 to the support group made up of: ABI Attachments Inc., Fox Lawn & Landscape and B and L Buyers Group.
Azariah Brenneman's grand champion dairy goat sold for $400 to Community Mills and Noah Brenneman's reserve champion dairy goat brought in $400 from Cody Tone.
In poultry, Seth Newland's champion market broiler sold for $600 to Community Mills, and Wright's reserve champion went for $400 to Above the Line LLC and Community Mills. Conner Weston sold his champion market roaster to Country Excavating for $160 and Aidan Ward sold the reserve champion roaster to Tim and Lori Green for $330. Elsie Karaman's champion market heavyweight went for $340 to Honor Credit Union of Dowagiac while Cass Construction spent $425 on Lane Leach's reserve champion market heavyweight.
Adalyne Jones' champion goose went for $600 to the Hartford Glass Buyers and Looking for Deer Lease and Kimberly Clark received $400 from R.B. Trucking for her reserve champion goose.
Porky's and U.S. Business Systems paid $1,000 for a dozen eggs from the poultry exhibitors.
In turkeys, Joey Parsons' champion hen sold for $600 to Porky's while High Farms paid $400 for Hannah Sharp's reserve champion hen. Dylan Largen received $275 from Country Excavating for the champion tom turkey while Wyatt Wilson earned $620 from the support group made up of: Keith Luke, Mengel's Watercress Farm, Amanda Wilson, Keith and Monica Luke and E&R Barbque.
The champion duck of Isabelle Sullivan sold for $500 to Poehlman's Farms and the reserve champion duck of Marlie Carpenter brought $300 from Country Excavating.
The Gallon of Milk from the Dairy Barn support group consisted of: We Got Milk; C. Wimberly Auto Group GMC; Kelsey Lake Farms; Shugars Farm; McKenzie Farms; Bergman Vet Medical Center; High Farms; Dowagiac Auto Body; Chuck and Cindy Martensen; Millmark Enterprises Inc.; Burnips Equipment Co.; Southwestern Michigan College; Oakwood Farms; Isabel's Outdoor Lawncare; Waldschmidt Farms; Paul and Kathy Sweitzer; Berrybrook Farms; Shelly Myers-Henry, Cressy &Everett; NH Shorthorn; Co-Alliance, Keith Leighton; James Hershberger and family; Tracy and Linda Hertsel; Elk Park Feed Store; Benterzer Inc.; Rutherford Rentals; Edgewood Farms; Midwest Energy and Communications; Harding's Market; Bauer Farm; Greenstone Farm Credit Service; Ausra Equipment & Supply Co.; Keith and Karen Hartsell; Steve Waldschmidt; Hartford Glass Buyers Club; Bill and Diane Grabemeyer; Wolverine Mutual, Sarah Northrup; Kurt and Sara Hartsell; Karter and Kaleigh Isabell; Peterson Farm; Conklin Farms; Edward Lowe Foundation; Decatur Feed; Hillside Farms of Edwardsburg; Heasley Seeds; Sparkle Car Care Center; Fashion Gurlz; Brett Bowman; Pikeview Belgians; Zac Lock; Michael Freeman; Crystal Flash, Harold Cody; Klein Seed Sales; Ed and Kelly Reed; Christopher and Rachel Reed; Blake Hartsell; Johnny's Custom Construction; Dussel's Farm Market; Greenmark Equipment, Union; Terry Ausra Farms; Hahn Auction Inc.; G.W. Jones Exchange Bank; Benton Metal; Bentzer Inc.; Sam and Jenna Rickett; Poehlman's Farms; Fedore Veterinary Services; and Walther Farms.
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