She is always willing to help 4-Hers. And she does it with a smile.

That’s one of many reasons Chris Redding of Elgin was named the 2019 recipient of the Jolene Mosel Helping Hand Award during the Antelope County Fair on Sunday.

The award was created in honor of Jolene Mosel, one of Antelope County's most devoted friends of 4-H who died after a lengthy battle with cancer in 2016.

Tessa Hain, 4-H Youth Development Coordinator, said Redding has been a club leader for the Way Out West 4-H Club for more than 20 years and also serves as a clothing superintendent for the fair, along with Karin Kinney, the 2017 award recipient. Others who have received the helping hand award are Anne Meis (2016) and Rhonda Meyer (2018).

She said Redding puts in a lot of time as a club leader and also volunteers for numerous other 4-H events, including pre-and post-fair cleanup.

“She is always there with a smile on her face, just like Jolene would have been,” Hain said of Redding. “She never complains and is always willing to help.”

Redding fought back tears as she hugged members of the Mosel family in the show arena when her name was announced and again when she was later asked what the award means to her.

“I can’t even put it into words,” she said as tears again filled her eyes. “It means a lot to me. Jolene was just such a wonderful person. It’s very humbling because you feel like you don’t deserve it, that you don’t measure up to what she has done.”

Redding said Jolene was always very enthusiastic and encouraging to the 4-H kids.

“Jolene always made you want to do more and do better,” she said. “She was busy, but she always made time. I don’t know how she did everything she did.”

Hain said Jolene helped as many kids as she possibly could during her lifetime and “always had this big, incredible smile on her face.”

“This award is for those who have gone above and beyond for 4-H,” she said. “(Chris Redding) is very deserving of this award.”

On hand for the presentation were Jolene Mosel’s parents, Leroy and Gail Wortman; her husband, Randy, and her daughter, Chandra.

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When her kids started 4-H, the only animals they showed were calves.

But, it wasn’t long before they decided to wing it — and they entered poultry. 

The poultry show at the Antelope County Fair soon became a family affair for Rhonda Meyer, her children, and now, her grandchildren.

“I don’t even remember what got us started in poultry,” Meyer of Neligh said. “I think we were down here because we were doing bucket calves and we just decided to watch the poultry show and we just started. My oldest son was like 9 and he’s going to be 36 in November.”

Eric, Kendra and Chelsey are now all grown with children of their own.

“Chelsey is going to be 29, so I haven’t had anyone in 4-H for a really long time, but now I’ve got my grandkids,” she said. “I just love working with them and helping them.”

For someone who never showed chickens as a 4-Her herself, Meyer’s passion for poultry has grown tremendously throughout the years. Twenty-six years ago, she started out as an assistant and has since taken over as the poultry superintendent for Antelope County. 

Now, Meyer can often be seen walking through the poultry barns at the fairgrounds wearing her T-shirt that says, “Have no fear, the chicken lady is here.” 

“It just kind of bit me, I guess,” Meyer said with a laugh.

She has so many chickens now that she isn’t even sure how many she owns. 

“Well, there’s a thing called chicken math, so we don’t really count how many we have at home, but I’ve probably got like 70,” Meyer said. “The grandkids keep them at my house because they live in town. I had to build a second coop this spring. What you don’t do for your grandkids, right?”

She also likes to keep extra chickens on hand when problems arise for 4-Hers.

“There was one exhibitor that something got into his coop two weeks ago and killed all of his chickens, so that makes me really sad,” Meyer said. “So some of the extras are used now.”

The poultry numbers at the fair have greatly increased in recent years. This year, there were about 120 entries, she said.  

“I have good kids that show and the parents are awesome and I have good helpers,” Meyer said. “I couldn’t do any of this without my helpers. It’s a team effort.”

Her own grandchildren have contributed to those larger numbers, bringing 16 of the chickens between the three of them.

Cain, 10, said he brought 14 chickens to the Antelope County Fair for the second year in a row. His younger sisters, Lily, 8, and Olivia, 6, are not old enough to be full 4-H members yet, so they each brought the one chicken they are allowed as Clover Kids. They are the children of Adam and Kendra (Meyer) Mortensen of Neligh.

Cain said his grandma has always encouraged them in their involvement with chickens.

“Everytime we go to grandma’s house, we got to see the chickens, collect the eggs,” he said.

When it comes time to bring them to the fair, Cain said his favorite part is washing them.

Olivia explained that they wash the chickens by using soap and water, vinegar, another water rinse and then they are dried with a blow dryer.

“The worst part is the smell of the vinegar,” she said, wrinkling up her nose.

The 2019 fair was Olivia’s first year showing a chicken as a Clover Kid.

“I like holding them,” she said.

In her final year as a Clover Kid, Lily was able to show a chicken that hatched in her second grade classroom. 

“We put them in the incubator. I think it was for three weeks,” she said. “And they all ended up hatching, except two of them.”

With parental permission, the second graders were allowed to take a chick home with them in May. Lily said she named hers “Penny” because it was the color of a penny.

“It lived in my basement,” she said. “Then we got all the chicks out of the basement so we didn’t have to hear them tweeting at night. They went to my grandma’s house.”

Kendra said their basement was home to about 20 chicks, then they got about a dozen more. Soon after, Lily’s chick came to live with them, so they got three more. 

“So some were out before we got the second group,” she said. “They were probably between two and three months old before we moved them out. We kept them in a big box with a heat lamp.” 

Following in her own footsteps, Kendra said she likes seeing her kids active in the 4-H poultry project.

“I enjoy their excitement when they are picking out what kinds they want and listening to their conversations about the different breeds,” she said. “It is fun to watch them interact with their chickens as they are getting ready for the show, and their excitement when they do well with them.”

Kendra said she also likes the lessons that the project has taught her children.

“I like how they learn responsibility through feeding and watering and taking care of them,” she said.

Rhonda said seeing her grandchildren with chickens brings back some fun memories of her own children.

“I remember when we blew a fuse in garage and we were blow drying all of the chickens in the kitchen,” she said. “And we have memories this way now too. It’s fun working with my grandkids. I love it.”

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Marie Meis capped off her final year of 4-H in a meaningful way.

At the 2019 Antelope County Fair, Meis was not only the champion senior showman in poultry and the winner of the small animal round robin, she was also the first-ever recipient of the Kalin Henn Memorial Award.

The new award was created in Kalin’s honor by Rhonda Meyer, the Antelope County poultry superintendent. The son of Tom and Sandi Henn of Elgin, Kalin died on April 27 at age 21. He was a former Antelope County 4-Her and poultry showman.

“Kalin was the one to get his family started showing chickens,” Meyer said of the reason she established the award. “His mom Sandi said if it wasn’t for him, they probably would not have been part of the poultry family.”

When it came to showing chickens, Meyer said Kalin “was serious about it and did very well.”

“He worked hard,” she said. 

Meyer said she carefully chose Meis as the first recipient of the award.

“I chose Marie because she has shown chickens her entire 4-H years,” she said. “Marie is a great role model for the younger exhibitors. She is always willing to help them.”

Meyer said she also felt the award would mean something special to the Meis and Henn families.

She was right.

“The Henn family started showing chickens around the same time as us, so we learned together,” Meis said. “Kalin and my brother are about the same age and Grace (Kalin’s younger sister) and I were classmates, so our families have always shown together, worked together,  and been in the same 4-H club together.”

When Kalin passed away, Meis said it was “a hard loss for everyone in the community.”

“So to be able to show next to Grace, and then be awarded with that by the family and Rhonda Meyer, was really special,” the 19-year-old said.

Meis has been participating in 4-H since she was eligible, starting out as a Clover Kid and becoming a member of the Cedar Creek 4-H Club. She will soon begin her sophomore year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she plans to double-major in agricultural communication and journalism.   

“This was a nice way to end my 4-H career,” Meis said.

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A large group of Antelope County 4-Hers earned honors in the highly competitive Beef Show at the Antelope County Fair on Saturday.

The junior showmanship category alone had 27 4-Hers in what the judge called a "very competitive group."

Beef Show results:

Senior Showmanship
Grand Champion: Logan Mueller
Reserve Champion: Haley Zegers

Intermediate Showmanship
Grand Champion: Grady Drueke
Reserve Champion: Karlee Broberg

Junior Showmanship
Grand Champion: Kayton Zwingman
Reserve Champion: Miley Broberg

Market Heifer
Grand Champion: Haley Zegers
Reserve Champion: Sawyer Tegeler

Market Steer
Grand Champion: Logan Mueller
Reserve Champion: Chris Kester

Second Year Bucket Calf
Grand Champion: Andrew Henery
Reserve Champion: Baylee Chessmore

Cow-Calf Pair
Grand Champion: Daley Bearinger
Reserve Champion: Bryce Rudloff

Breeding Heifer
Grand Champion: Kinley Drueke
Reserve Champion: Miley Broberg

Stocker-Feeder
Grand Champion: Logan Mueller
Reserve Champion: Logan Mueller

The sheep show on Friday evening drew a crowd as 4-Hers from around the county took to the center ring. 
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Senior Showmanship
Champion: Codey Snider
Reserve Champion: Brooke Forbes

Junior Showmanship
Champion: Baylee Chessmore
Reserve Champion: Trapper Wilcox

Market Lamb
Champion: Trapper Wilcox

Rate of Gain
Champion: Lincoln Forbes

Breeding Lamb
Champion: Merinee Vaughn
Reserve Champion: Autumn Forbes

Full results will be published in the ACN Fair Special Section available in print Wednesday. 

Dozens of participants made their rounds inside the goat show ring on Friday afternoon. Senior showmanship honors went to Travis Rudloff and Codey Snider while junior went to Carissa Gale and Robert Dugan. 

Senior showmanship
Champion: Travis Rudloff
Reserve Champion: Codey Snider
 
Senior showmanship 
Champion: Carissa Gale
Reserve Champion: Robert Dugan

Companion Goats
Champion: Robert Dugan
Reserve Champion: Abe Johnsen

Breeding Doe
Champion: Andrew Steskal
Reserve Champion: Travis Rudloff

Lottery
Champion: Robert Dugan
Reserve Champion: Brooke Forbes

Meat
Champion: Codey Snider
Reserve Champion: Tavis Rudloff

Dairy
Champion: Travis Rudloff
Reserve Champion: Amanda Fritzen

Market Goat:
Champion: Codey Snider

Rate of Gain:
Champion: Travis Rudloff

Full results will be published in the ACN Fair Special Section available in print Wednesday. 

There was a lot to cluck about in the 2019 Antelope County Poultry Show this year as numerous 4-Hers showed off their prized birds.

Poultry Show results:

Junior Showmanship
Champion: Cain Mortensen
Reserve Champion: Michael Selting

Intermediate Showmanship
Champion: Aubrea Howard
Reserve Champion: Kennedy Penne

Senior Showmanship
Champion: Marie Meis
Reserve Champion: Allyson Selting

Egg Production
Champion: Allyson Selting
Reserve Champion: Leevi Frey

Standard 
Champion: Allyson Selting
Reserve Champion: Michael Selting

Bantum
Champion: Cain Morstensen
Reserve Champion: Kinley Miller

Trio
Champion: Michael Selting
Reserve Champion: Allyson Selting

Duck/Goose/Turkey
Champion: Robert Dugan
Reserve Champion: Kaimberlynn Clouse

Fluffy bunnies and their 4-H showmen were featured in the show ring at the Antelope County Fair on Friday morning.

Rabbit show results:

Senior Showmanship
Kody Qualset, Champion 
Brooke Forbes, Reserve Champion

Junior Showmanship
Sara Hemenway, Champion
Emma Qualset, Reserve Champion

Buck
Season Forbes, Champion
Sara Hemenway, Reserve Champion
 
Doe
Brooke Forbes, Champion
Emma Qualset, Reserve Champion

The first-year bucket calves got the arena to themselves on Thursday afternoon as the Antelope County Fair event was moved to a separate time from the rest of the beef entries. 

Tessa Hain, 4-H Youth Development Coordinator, said the reason for this change was due to the growing number of entries.

“This year we have 38 first year bucket calves for the 8-12 year olds, and for Clover Kids we have another 30,” she said.

Bucket Calf Results:
11-12 Year Olds
Jacob Henery, Champion and Outstanding Interview
Shaylie Kester, Reserve Champion
Cassidy Frey, Outstanding Record Book

8-10 Year Olds
Kaylee Frey, Champion
John Zwingman, Reserve Champion
Brady Schwartz, Outstanding Record Book
Abryelle Kester, Outstanding Interview