BY JACK RUBLEY
MCVEYTOWN - It almost
seemed to be prearranged. As
ranks of immaculate, billowy
“Charolais” clouds herded south
and east across a bright blue sky, a
herd of 25 snow-white heifers and
steers was being scrubbed, teased
and brushed in preparation for the
Pennsylvania Charolais
Association’s Field Day last
Saturday.
Held at the Bratton Charolais
Farm just outside McVeytown in
Mifflin County, the event marked
the first field day sponsored by the
Pennsylvania association in its 25
years of promoting Charolais
cattle.
Previous area Charolais events
had been held under the auspices
of the Colonial Charolais
Association, representing breeders
from 11 states in the Northeast. On
hand to promote Saturday’s ac
tivities was Colonial Charolais
queen, Marty Chambers, who
presented trophies and ribbons to
the winning show entrants.
And if the weather proved to be
unbeatable for Saturday’s event,
so did two sisters from Washington
County, Crystal and Carla Clutter.
A fitting contest kicked off the
morning activities, with each
participant having one hour to
ready his or her animal for the
of McVeytown. Bilger's steer placed first in the lightweight
division.
Clutter. Her sister Crystal won senior showmanship honors.
LIVESTOCK
LATEST
Charolais Assoc, hold first Field Day
Pa.
show ring. With the heifers dressed
in their Sunday best, Judge Jay
Temcheck awarded senior
champion fitting honors to Crystal
Clutter, and named her sister,
Carla, champion among the
juniors.
Other senior fitting placings
were: second, Melanie Hem
minger; third, Kirk Fisher. Junior
second and third places went to
Kent Fisher and Clifford Higgins.
After delivering their one-two
punch in the fitting competition,
the Gutter girls went on to
dominate the heifer show, placing
first in all five classes. Heifer show
placings were as follows;
Class 1; first, Crystal Gutter;
second, Ruth Ann Grace.
Gass 2: first, Carla Clutter;
second, Ruth Ann Grace.
Gass 3: first, Crystal Clutter;
second, Scott Bratton; third, Kirk
Fisher.
Gass 4: first, Carla Gutter;
second, Kent Fisher; third, Clif
ford Higgins.
Class 5: first, Crystal Gutter;
second, Clifford Higgins; third,
Scott Bratton.
Both the grand champion and
reserve grand champion selected
from the above winners were
shown by Crystal Gutter.
After an hour lunch break, (rest
assured the main course wasn’t
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Grand champion heifer at the Pennsylvania Chare jls Association's first annual Field
Day was shown by Crystal Clutter. Presenting the trophy is Colonial Charolais queen
Marty Chambers.
pork barbeque) events continued
with the steer show.
Brian Bilger’s entry was dubbed
champion, with Scott Bratton’s
steer selected as reserve. Both
animals were lightweight division
winners. Steer placings in the two
divisions were;
Heavyweight: first, Clifford
Higgins; second, Kirk Fisher.
Lightweight: first, Brian Bilger;
second, Scott Bratton; third, Kent
Fisher.
Turning to the showmanship
contest, the class act of Carla and
Crystal again dominated com
petition. Following are the
showmanship placings:
Junior showmanship; first,
Carla Clutter; second, Clifford
Higgins; third, Kent Fisher.
Senior showmanship: first,
Crystal Clutter; second, Melanie
Hemminger; third, Kirk Fisher.
When host Ray Bratton stepped
from the bam leading his herd
sire, Mr. Expectation 3298,
everyone knew it was time for the
weight-guessing contest. The
winning estimate came within five
pounds of the bull’s official weight
of 2,695 pounds. An Expectation
son, this bull was 1982 grand
champion at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show.
The busy day at Bratton’s farm
concluded with cow/calf matching,
and a livestock judging contest,
and , from all appearances, no one
went home disappointed.
Commenting on the
Association’s first Field Day,
president Don Bowman was
pleased with the turnout of 100
Charolais fanciers. ‘
“We plan to make the Field Day
an annual event for the Penn
sylvania Association,” he con
cluded.
Sisters Crystal (foreground) and Carla Clutter proved to be
a tough act to follow during field day competition.
Handling judging responsibilities was Jay Temcheck of
Bellefonte, a 1983 Penn State Animal Production graduate.
pp
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