Dauphin, Lancaster Counties swap steer titles
BY JACK HUBLEY
HARRISBURG For two years
now, the race for grand champion
steer honors has boiled down to
head-to-head competition between
two families.
Last year, Lancaster County’s
Kelly Rohrer edged out Sally
Messick of Dauphin County for the
top beef title. But this year Sally's
brother Mike was back with a
Messick-bred entry that proved to
be too much even for Rohrer’s
heavyweight.
The son of Mylin and Doris
Messick of Middletown, Mike
caught judge Dan Eversole’s eye
with a heavyweight Chianina-
Angus cross he called Andy.
“He was one of the thickest and
squarest rumped steers I’d seen all
day,” remarked Eversole, adding
that the 1,280-pound steer had the
edge over Rohrer’s reserve
champion because of his
movement and structural
correctness.
Mike Messick’s assessment of
his steer was a bit more modest. “I
knew he was good, but I didn’t
think he’d ever get this far,” he
beamed.
But Messick must have
suspected that he’d be in the
running by the conclusion of last
year’s show season. The Lower
Dauphin High School lOth-grader
walked Andy to grand cham
pionship honors in both the
Keystone International Livestock
Expo and the Northeast Chianina
Field Day. In fact, the only time
the steer failed to shoulder out the
Dwayne Coble, (at halter) Hershey, exhibited the champion
lightweight steer. Assisting with plaque is Dwayne Messick.
Kelly Rohrer, exhibitor of the reserve grand champion steer, shares the magic
moment with her uncle, Abie Flory.
competition was during - the
Dauphin County Roundup when he
was stonewalled after placing first
in his class.
A homebred entry, Andy was
sired by Ideal, one of' Messick
Farms’ Chianina bulls kept on
hand to breed the family’s 100
Angus brood cows. Mike did his
part through daily fitting practice
and half-mile walks every other
day.
Messick plans to bank his ear
nings from the sale of his cham
pion. Hopefully Andy will con
tribute to a bachelor’s degree in
Animal Science at Penn State.
Whatever magic Manheim’s
Kelly Rohrer summoned up to win
grand champion honors last year
was nearly as potent this year.
“It’s the red shirt,” laughed the
18-year-old daughter of Yvonne
Rohrer, who pointed out that a red
shirt played a part in last years
win.
“We had anticipated not placing
well (this year) because of his
height,’’ Rohrer said, adding that
the lanky, Chianina-Angus
crossbred named Ebony might
have even looked better had he
been finished out to 1,500 pounds,
rather than his 1,320-pound show
weight.
Magic notwithstanding, Wayne
and Jeff Miller of Indiana un
doubtedly played a part in the
outcome. Wayne bred Rohrer’s
1985 and ’B6 winners, and his son
Jeff made the trip from Indiana to
clip Ebony for the show. The
clipping alone made a big dif-
After watching his sister take reserve honors last year, Mike Messick, Middletown, did
her one better, taking home the grand champion banner, held here by Secretary of
Agriculture Richard Grubb.
ference in the steer’s appearance,
according to Rohrer.
One other person who figures
heavily in the success of Kelly’s
steer projects is her Uncle, Abe
Flory, of Lititz, who houses her
animals on his small farm. “He’s
helped me even more this year
than any other,” said Rohrer.
Other divisional champions
included Leigh Hitz, daughter of
Lee and Eileen Hitz of Lebanon,
who showed the middleweight
champion. The lightweight
champion was shown by Dwayne
Coble, son of David and Sylvia
Coble, Hershey.
Following are the results of the
steer show and showmanship
competition.
Steers
Lightweight 1
1 Jenm Oruck 2 Gretchen Christman 3
Matthew Will
Lightweight 2
1 Derek Nissley 2 Greg Zook 3 Stacey Linton
Lightweight 3
1 Dwayne Coble 2 Nichole High 3 Michelle
Nissley
Lightweight Champion
Dwayne Coble Dauphin
Reserve Lightweight
Nicole High Lancaster
Middle Weight 1
1 Michelle Dean 2 Todd Lilley 3 Kent Fisher
Middle Weight 2
1 Kern Kohr 2 Barbie Davis 3 Emily Weaver
The price of fame: The spotlight shone on Mike Messick
(right) as the exhibitor of the grand champion steer fielded
questions from an army of television and newspaper
reporters.
Champion middleweight honors went to Leigh Hitz of
Lebanon.
Middle Weight 3
1 Leigh Hitz 2 John McKnotch 3 Jodie
Weaver
Middle Weight Champion
Leigh Hitz Lebanon
Reserve Middle Weight
Michelle Dean
Heavy Weight 2
1 Angie Longenecker 2 Gregory Wilson 3
Darby Smith
Heavy Weight 2
1 MikeMessick 2 Sally Messick 3 John Eaton
Heavy Weight 3
1 Kelly Rohrer 2 Mike Grossan 3 Eric
Berkeimer
Heavy Weight Champion
Mike Messick Dauphin
Reserve Heavy Weight
Kelly Rohrer Lancaster
Michael Messrck Dauphin
Reserve Grand Champion
Kelly Rohrer Lancaster
Showmanship
lit Under
1 Leigh Hitz 2 Jennifer Calderazzo 3 Hen
Frey J
I Carla Cutler 2 Cathy Shive 3 Si
Eisenhour
IS & Over
1 Jan Waltz 2 Don Cairns 3 Dwayne Messick
Grand Champion Steer
12 14