The contingent of Shawville 4-H members who traveled to Toronto to show in this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair have now safely returned to the Pontiac.
The 13 youth have been preparing for the superbowl of fairs for months, some showing beef, some dairy, and nine of them taking part in the club’s first go in the Royal’s square dancing competition in quite some time.
Members showing beef were Sheppard and Tyson Childs. Childs placed first in his conformation class in the Angus yearlings division of the Masterfeeds National Junior Beef Heifer Competition.
Sheppard, for her part, was semi-finalist for the senior division of showmanship, and her heifer was fourth in her class of shorthorn yearlings for conformation.
Members showing dairy were Myanna Sally, Payton St-Pierre, and Morgan Tracy. They teamed up with members of the Lachute 4-H club to form Quebec North, which placed seventh overall out of dozens of other teams from across the country for Premier County in the TD 4-H Classic.
“I was proud of myself and everyone that showed and it definitely won’t be my last trip to the Royal. I would love to go again,” Sally said. “Known as a shy person, I was happy I got to meet new people.”
Tracy too was thrilled to have gotten to work with people she didn’t know as well as her own club members,
“We got to see how other people worked alongside with them, and it was really fun,” Tracy said, noting two of her team members from the Lachute club placed very well – Hannah McOuat winning reserve dairy heifer and Emily McOuat winning reserve senior showperson.
“This was such a cool experience for the people you meet, and just for the competition. There were three-hundred and something exhibitors, just for the TD Classic.”
The senior square dancing team, made up of Amy Sheppard, Laura Graham, Rosie McCann, Andie Heatlie-McLaughlin, Ben Judd, Kathleen Kelly, Grace Kelly, Charlotte Graham and caller Eloise Thompson, placed third of five teams in the 4-H set, and eighth of 10 teams in the open set.
“The open set includes university-level teams, and people of any age can compete, so there were a couple of older people dancing. Their level of technicality and skill are much more advanced than ours, so it was interesting,” said Sheppard, also the club’s president, upon returning from Toronto.
“Watching them was pretty eye-opening to see how much they do work together to get their timing on point and to really master all their skills. It was hard to see anything wrong with their dances because they were so in sync with everything.”
Sheppard said dancing at the Royal was a learning experience.
“We definitely learned we need to practice more. Come next year I think we’re going to buckle down.”
She said after just a month of rest, practices will start up again in January for three competitions scheduled for early next year in March, April, and May.
