Jayden and Marissa Hicks have had a great year of showing at the fair. Recently, Marissa received Grand Champion, and Jayden received Reserve Champion in the lightweight division for their cows.
Jayden and Marissa have both been showing for nine years. Starting as Cloverbuds, they are now a part of the Darke County Holstein 4-H Club.
Marissa received Grand Champion in the Lightweight Division for her steer. This is her first year showing beef cows.
“I bought my own herd of beef cows for my SAE project for FFA,” Marissa said. “It sounded really fun to me to try something new, so I went and tried something new. It went great, I think. It went a lot better than I thought it would, so I’m happy.”
Marissa also received third place in Showmanship, first place in her class in Home Grown, second place in Born and Raised, and third place in Open Show.
Outside of showing, her favorite part of the fair is the food.
“I don’t really leave the barn,” Marissa said. “Probably the food, the popcorn chicken from Hunts Concessions.”
Jayden received Reserve Champion in the Lightweight Division. Jayden shows dairy steers and dairy feeders.
Jayden got 2nd with his feeder calf and third with his other steer.
“My favorite part is the Showmanship show,” Jayden said. “Showmanship is you and your animal. It’s the connection you guys have, and I think that’s pretty special for the fair and pretty special part of the project.”
Jayden’s favorite part of the fair outside of showing is the tractor pulls and the harness racing.
“There’s a lot of thrill in it,” Jayden said.
Congratulations to both Marissa and Jayden!
