By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The third annual Ring of Dreams Livestock Show registration event had a speed-dating feel to it. Instead of looking for dates, potential participants walked around the sheep show arena at the Wood County Fairgrounds to find their favorite animal to show.
The prospective participants, individuals with developmental disabilities, and their family members or caregivers made the rounds as Wood County 4-H members showcased the animals that will be shown during the Ring of Dreams Livestock Show during the Wood County Fair.
A total of 75 people and 60 mentors signed up for the July 31 exhibition that will start at 5 p.m. in the Pratt Pavilion.
For the registration day last week, Olivia and Michael Violi, Ryleigh Perry and Addison Hannan took turns explaining the benefits of showing rabbits. Emma Reid walked around the arena demonstrating the ease of showing a pig. Star and Summer Heldman each had a lamb on harness and invited people to touch the lambs and ask questions. Evelyn Souvenier stood by Scarlet, her mini-Hereford breeding heifer, eager to help the future livestock exhibitors find their perfect match.
Emma and Evelyn are seasoned junior fair livestock pros at showing animals and as mentors for the Ring of Dreams. Both girls have been mentors in the two previous Ring of Dreams shows and are looking forward the opportunity again this year.
Emma got involved the very first year (in 2023) thanks to Amy Dauer, who is the employment coordinator at Wood Lane Residential Services.
“I love watching our animals that we’ve grown up and worked with since they were little,” Emma said. “It is fun to watch other people, who didn’t know showing animals was a thing, to be with and show our animals. They just have a blast.”
The previous two years she has provided dairy goats; this is the first year the recent Otsego High School graduate is helping as a mentor for showing pigs.
Tommy Rich, a resident of a Wood Lane Residential Services home in Bowling Green, was eyeballing the pig from his motorized wheelchair. After showing a beef feeder last year, Rich said he is excited to broaden in livestock showing skills by showing a pig this year.
Rich also agreed to sing the National Anthem to kick off the Ring of Dreams event for the second consecutive year.
Evelyn Souvenier, a freshman at Perrysburg High School and a member of the Beaver Creek Boosters 4-H Club, brought Scarlet to registration night as an example of showing calves for the livestock show.
“I also show dairy goats and have provided goats the past two years for Ring of Dreams,” she explained. “I think I might use Scarlet for Ring of Dreams, but I also might use dairy goats again.”
Evelyn’s mother was an intervention specialist for a preschool, which enabled Evelyn to interact with youths with developmental disabilities prior to being involved in Ring of Dreams.
“I really like working with kids with developmental disabilities. They are fun and so awesome,” Evelyn said about her involvement with Ring of Dreams. “I enjoy meeting new people and seeing how much joy they bring to every experience.”
Hope and Kelby were very interested in Scarlet, the adorable mini-Hereford heifer that was bigger than the other animals available for showing. Hope, who was cautioned to be careful her feet weren’t near the calves’ hooves, was a little nervous because of the heifer’s size. However, Kelby wasn’t fazed at all. In fact, she was showing off her Michael Jackson moves for Scarlet and the others who were there to meet Scarlet.
New this year
Chickens have been added to the animals available to be shown this year. Last year at the signup event, Bowling Green resident Melissa Frizado said she wanted to show chickens.
“I said if you give me one year showing something else, I’ll give you chickens next year,” said Amanda Barndt, event founder and organizer. “That was the deal, so here we are, being able to show chickens this year.”
Also new this year is a pilot project that provides a Ring of Dreams experience for two individuals and two mentors, Barndt said. She has paired Christopher Schuckers with mentor Skylar Swartz to show goats and Ruby London with Virginia Nuzum to show Ruby’s market lamb this year.
The experience goes beyond the single day of practice and the show ring experience, Barndt explained.
“Christopher and Virginia are helping Skylar and Ruby with their dairy goat 4-H projects,” she said.
Christopher and Virginia will visit with Skylar and Ruby five times to learn how to walk, wash, brush and feed the animals, just like a 4-H member learns in their project.
“They learn a little bit of everything, and with every visit, they fill out a form and tell me something they learn during each visit,” she said. There will be a booth in the Junior Fair Building with all the 4-H club projects that will display what they have learned through the experience.
Sponsored by the Wood County Farm Bureau and Formula of Champions livestock feed (Andrew Sloan and Levi Richards), Barndt said, “This will be a test run this year, and we will see what it looks like in the future.”
All of the feed is paid for the two projects to incentivize 4-H members to want to help, she said. “In the future, 4-H members interested will apply for a scholarship that will pay for their project in return for taking somebody along with them for the 4-H project experience,” she explained.
Last year’s show had 54 participants and 45 mentors. This year’s numbers of 75 participants and 60 mentors “makes my heart burst,” Barndt said. “I’m so happy to get close to a one-to-one participation.”
The community support has also been a huge boon to the event. Sponsors have continued to increase each year, helping to provide giveaways and food at the practice day in July and the show for all the participants and mentors.
