GREENFIELD — Rain was pouring down as the competitors led their animals around the ring at the Hancock County Fairgrounds on Friday night. As the eight 4-H’ers walked with the cows they were exhibiting, the power suddenly flickered and died.
Jordyn Wickard, a recent graduate from Eastern Hancock High School who was the 2020 4-H fair queen, wasn’t fazed.
“I just kind of moved on, because after a crazy year like 2020, anything can happen,” Wickard said. “Here I was in the ring, and I was like, ‘you know, it’s just our luck.’”
Fortunately, the power was back on a moment later and the show could go on. Wickard and her fellow competitors were returning to the fair to compete in the supreme showmanship event for 2020 on Friday, June 18, which was canceled last year during a fair with a limited format and no public attendance.
Wickard was chosen as the overall winner — or supreme showman — of the delayed competition. Morgan Stone was chosen as the 2020 reserve supreme showman. Other competitors were Abigail Hughes, Paige Wickard, Ryan Wickard, Chase Settergren, Garrett Friesen and Jaysa Melton.
Because last year’s fair adopted a “show and go” format to avoid gathering crowds that could spread COVID-19, the typically well-attended supreme showmanship event didn’t take place. Some of last year’s champions are still involved in 4-H, while others were graduating seniors and 10-year members last year who returned to this fair for the final event they missed out on.
“We wanted to make sure that these guys got to show off their skills,” said Holly Williams, who helped organize and run the event.
In a typical showmanship event at the fair, the participants are working with animals they rehearsed with and often which they raised themselves. In supreme showmanship, it’s different: Each competitor must show their skills with five animals that are chosen by the judges. Those include swine, sheep, goats, beef cows and dairy cows. Each event has its own judge, who ranks competitors’ performance with their animal on a scale of 1-10. The goal is to get a lower score, with 1 representing a perfect performance.
“It feels good after the whole year that’s been happening to finally get these animals out in the ring and show all these skills,” Melton said.
Melton will be competing in this year’s events for dairy cows, pigs, sheep and goats and is hoping to make it to the 2021 supreme showmanship ring later in the week as well. The 2021 supreme showmanship competition is at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24, in the 4-H Show Arena.
Williams said the downpour and the power issues weren’t the ideal conditions for the event, but she was grateful everything was able to proceed on schedule and that last year’s champions got the chance to show off their abilities.
“Nothing about 2020 was ideal, so just the fact that we were able to show and we could make this one big final contest for them is what we really wanted to do,” she said. “We can’t thank the superintendents and everyone who donated livestock enough for helping us pull this night off,” Williams said.
One of the event’s judges was Juliann Porter, a Greenfield native who competed in the county’s supreme showmanship events herself in 2014 and 2015. She said she was impressed by the performances of all of the contestants.
“This is a great group of kids,” she said. “They’re a very well-rounded group that could show livestock not just in this county but in the state, and honestly they could compete in the nation as well.”
Jordyn Wickard wasn’t the only member of her family in the ring; fellow competitors Paige and Ryan Wickard are her cousins. Paige was a 10-year member in 2020, and Ryan is in his eighth year. The siblings’ mother, Leslie Wickard, said it was tiring but gratifying to have two children competing.
“They both show sheep, and they both show short-horn cattle nationally,” she said. “I’m very proud of them… It’s a good feeling. I showed, my husband showed for 10 years, and I know the kids love it here.”
For Jordyn Wickard, winning supreme showman wasn’t the only impressive accomplishment of this year’s fair week. She recently found out she has been chosen for a stop as an officer of the state FFA, and will be taking a gap year to travel the state carrying out her duties for the organization before continuing her education as an agricultural communications major at Purdue University.
Jordyn Wickard said she was glad to get closure for the 2020 fair season with a win in the belated competition.
“I’m so happy I was able to compete with the people I did, because I love each and every one of them,” she said.