Frontenac County 4H Dairy Classic Team Thrives at Royal Winter Fair

Jemma Dooreleyers | Nov 23, 2023

The Frontenac County 4-H Dairy Classic team represented Frontenac County at the Royal Agricultural Fair from November 6^th to November 12^th, earning 14 placements across all age groups out of 371 participants. Seven team members placed in the Top 10 for their classes and the in the team competition, they finished 6 of 42 teams.

The team was generous enough to let me tag along.

Arriving at Orserdale Farms on Saturday November Fourth, an hour before the Frontenac County 4-H Dairy Classic team embark on their journey to Toronto to compete in the 101st Royal Winter Agricultural Fair, excitement and nerves were almost as thick as the list of things the team needed to bring for the world’s largest indoor agricultural event.

The team assembled at the farm three hours prior leaving Sydenham to triple check and systemically pack a multitude of bins containing various types of beauty products for the cows, and to assemble the 8 foot tall exhibit that would display their banner and their calves.

Lloyd Orser, one of the owners of the multigenerational Orserdale Farms, helped the team pack the trailers and showed them how to build their exhibit once they arrived to the Exhibition Centre. He has been part of 4-H in one way or another for most of his life and Orserdale Farms has been going to the Royal on and off for about 20 years. He said he was is excited for the girls to experience the excitement of the Royal.

“I think they're a really talented young group and should have some good results,” he said. “It’s also something different that most people don’t get to do so I’m looking forward to seeing how they do but I’m mostly looking forward to seeing how much they enjoy doing it.”

The Royal Winter Agricultural Fair is the highest level of competition for Canadian 4-H club members and the Frontenac County Dairy Team has been preparing for this by showing their calves all summer and putting in many hours of their own time to get the calves used to walking on a lead and being in the ring with other competitors. The main things that the team members and their calves are graded on are showmanship and the breed character of the calf. Showmanship is judged on how well the team member and the calf interact with each other in the ring, how well the team member maintains eye-contact with the judges, how confident both counterparts look and how well behaved the calf is. Breed character is how healthy and attractive the calves are, they are judged on the width of their shoulder.

The all-female team had an age-range from 13 to 2. Some of the girls were competing for the first time and some for the last time. MacKensie Abrams is 13 and while packing for the Royal on Saturday, she expressed her excitement and nerves. “I am excited that this is my first year but nervous because it’s a really big place,” she said. Abrams and her calf, Hollylane Exposito of Browsonlea ended up winning 1st place in the Jersey Fall Calf class and placed 18th in junior showmanship out of 117 participants.

When I met up with the team at their exhibit at the Royal on Monday November 6th, the energy was palpable with adrenaline and energy despite the fact that they had been there since 3am, setting up and priming the calves for showing.

The Frontenac Exhibit was on the corner of one of the rows of stalls. Girls constantly darted back and forth from behind the stall, raking and sweeping mulch that went rogue from underneath the calves’ feet and chatting and helping the other girls get their calves ready for competition. The event, which was held in the Ring of Excellence in the centre of the Exhibition Centre, was a dance of organization and timing to make sure every calf and their team member made it into the ring for their class looking put together and calm for the judges. To appear confident the participants did their best to maintain eye-contact with the judge and apply acupressure to their calves in a specific way to show the judge that they are confident in themselves and trust their calf. Once in the ring, the participants slowly walked their calves around the ring with other participants from all over Canada, then waited for the judge to choose which calves he decided to promote to the finals. Emily Campbell made it into the Junior Showmanship finals. Although she was nervous about performance because she didn’t feel her calf, Hickory Acres’ Aquilla, was walking as well as she could due to the distractions in the ring, Campbell maintained her composure, which gave her an advantage.

“Most judges seem to comment on the look I have,” she said. “I am very fierce and just very calm.” Campbell and Aquilla placed 14th in the Jersey Fall Calf Class and 22nd in Junior Showmanship, out of 117 participants from across Canada.

Summer Clair has been showing with the 4-H for 12 years and this was her last year on the team. Her calf, Hickory Acres’ Krackle Chocochip, has a big personality so “the competition goes how she wants it go,” Clair said. Luckily for her, Krackle seemed to be putting her best foot forward. Together they won three ribbons over the course of the week, coming second place in the Jersey Summer Yearling Confirmation class, 29th in senior showmanship at the TD 4-H Classic Show in the first week, and then earning seventh place (coming out as the first 4-Her) in the summer yearling class, and receiving an Honourable Mention for Grand Champion 4-H calf.

“It feels absolutely amazing to receive my ribbons and my plaque, because this was my last 4-H event it was my goal to place in the Top 10 and it has been a goal I have been working towards all year,” she said.

The success did not drown out the emotions that come with ending a journey that Clair has spent so much of her life dedicated to. “Competing in my last 4-H event was very bitter-sweet for me. I am so grateful to have finished on such a high and successful note along-side a team of amazing girls - including my younger sister.”

Clair, along with the rest of the team, said they were honoured to represent Frontenac County so well.

“It was always our goal to not only represent ourselves and our farms well but also our county as a whole. We wouldn’t be able to attend shows like the Classic without Frontenac’s community support,” says Clair. “Past, present and future members have always and will always work hard to keep up the strong reputation Frontenac County members have built up over the years.” To follow along with Frontenac County 4-H Dairy Classic team and for more information you can find them on Facebook.

The team’s rankings are as follows: Mackensie Abrams (Hollylane Exposito of Brownsonlea) - 18th in junior showmanship (out of 117) and 1st in Jersey Fall Calf (out of 26) Emily Campbell (Hickory Acres Aquilla) - 22nd in Junior Showmanship and 14th in Jersey Fall Calf Hailey Curtis (Sunny Plains Adv Sunrise Red) - 29th in Junior Showmanship and 8th in Holstein Spring Calf Conformation Class ( 34 competitors) Addison Dwyre (Enniskillen Askn Mamie 704) - 18th in Intermediate Showmanship (116 competitors) and 24th in the Jersey Fall Calf Class Joelle De Vries (Beslea Lambda Aberdeen) - 10th in Senior showmanship (133 competitors) Summer Clair (Hickory Acres Krackle Chocochip) -29th in Senior Showmanship and 2nd in Jersey Summer Yearling Class (12 competitors) Stella Lamendeau (Lorivale KidRock Jetset) - 7th Jersey Winter Calf Class (8 competitors) Sarah Campbell (Marfloacres Moment Kit Kat) - 4th in the Holstein Junior Yearling Class (21 competitors) The team selected Summer, Stella and Mackensie for the Group of Three Calves Class where they placed 7th out of 38 groups The team exhibit was 6th place out of 42 team.