By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The smiles, waves and cheers from inside the show arena at the Wood County Fair Thursday afternoon were proof enough that the inaugural Ring of Dreams was a success.
Forty-three individuals with developmental disabilities had the opportunity to experience the thrill and the satisfaction (joy) of showing an animal of their choice in front of a standing-room-only crowd. They showed rabbits, goats, lambs, pigs and beef feeders during the event that had the feel of an authentic livestock show, complete with judge Stephanie Conway, the agricultural education teacher at Bowling Green High School, and announcer Clint Corpe of The Morning Show fame.
Conway engaged with each of the participants, watching them as they worked with the animals and talking to them about their animals.
Bobby Lawson was one of the show-ers who had the crowd cheering and clapping as he waved and smiled from start to finish in the ring, only occasionally getting ahead of the pig.
Ted Blausey had a grin as big as Ohio before, during and after he showed a rabbit named Marshmallow. “I chose the rabbit because it was the easiest,” he said with a smile. And under the watchful eye of his Junior Fair mentor Ryleigh Perry, the bunny behaved like a champ. Ted’s family already knew Ryleigh and her family, which made the mentorship a great match.
He was never nervous about being in the spotlight and even plans to compete next year. He liked showing the rabbit, so he might do that again. However, he was urged to consider a slightly bigger animal like a goat, but he didn’t think he would like to show a beef feeder. “Too big,” he said.
Ring of Dreams organizer Amanda Barndt was over-the-moon with the results. “It was wonderful in every way. The best part was looking around and seeing the full stands. There was standing room only. That was pretty cool,” she said.
Vowing to do it again next year, she said there are a few areas that they can improve, but the first-time show went very smoothly.
“The only thing I wanted to do was to give everybody the opportunity to show an animal. I think the community support just showed how important these participants are to the community,” she said with a smile. “That was pretty cool to watch it come full circle. They got the experience but they also go a lot of community support behind it and I think everybody had a lot of fun. There was a lot of smiles in the show arena.”
She profusely thanked the community for showing up and for providing support in person and through donations. In addition to the broad-based community support, “The Junior Fair (members) blew me away,” Barndt said. “I knew these kids are the best—the 4-H and FFA students—but to see them interact with these participants was amazing. They didn’t need any coaching. They didn’t need any direction. They were just top-notch,” she said.
She also appreciated how quickly the participants and their partners became friends. “They got to be pretty good buddies during practice, and when it came time for the show, they found their partners right away.”
Individuals who participated, their animal and (partner) were:
Rabbits: Stephanie Kline (Ryleigh Perry), Dennis Miller (Logan perry), Austin Jaquez (Emma Ruffner), Kaylynn Horner (Paisley Long), Cole Nichols (Amelia Williams), Nate Caldwell (Sidney Engard), Ted Blausey (Ryleigh Perry), Lucy Tyson (Sidney Engard), Ryan Gardner (Emma Ruffner), Heather Jackson (Addison Kepling), Kaelynn Miller (Summer Heldman), and Joseph Bechstein (Henry Engard).
Lambs: Emily Johnson (Star Heldman), Virginia Nuzum (Chloe Heldman), and Kelbey Phillips (Summer Lehsten).
Goats: Christopher Schuckers (Emma Reid), Cole Fausey (Tessa Conrad), Jennifer Dawson (Skylar Swartz), Ethan Sayler (Jackson Guthrie), Dominic Caldwell (Sam Head), Seth Reynolds (Grace Dickson), Jeremy Rieff (Tessa Conrad), Virginia Downs (Skylar Swartz), Sawyer Rader (Emma Reid), Heather Mulford (Jackson Guthrie), Levi Emch (Grace Dickson) and Jordan Doncoes (Sam Head).
Pigs: Grace Golden (Emma Meek), Kristin Fisher (Ali Meek), Willie Tyson (Janie Lehsten), Bob Lawson (Garrett Ziegler), Kim Paxton (Emma Meek), Ceili Richardson (Briston McDowell) , Maddyson Miniger (Ben Jones), Grace Giannini (Janie Lehsten) and Kadence Willingham (Emma Cotterman).
Beef Feeders: Cristina Gray (Sara Britton), Sara Burrell (Ruby London), George Stauch IV (Anna Ayers), Beau Galbraith (Evelyn Souvenier), David Johnson (Sally Nietz), Aurora Almaguer (Sophie Gillespie) and Roman Kiesel (Ali Meek).
