Kids * Korne^
At home, Timothy spends many hours with his calves and is responsible for daily
care.
Timothy Talks About
The Good And Bad In Show Life
WATSONTOWN (North
umberland Co.) Timothy Betz,
11, was exposed to the “show
life” at a young age. His dad was
the dairy herd manager at Dela
ware Valley College in Doyles
town, from 1993-1999. He trav
At the Pa. State Junior
Show, Timothy Betz shows
the second place winter
calf, a Red and White Hol
stein named Middlebush Fi
nale Lizzy.
eled with his mom and dad, Kelly
and Shane, to all of the shows
and liked to help take care of the
show cows.
Timothy is a fifth grade honor
roll student at the Warrior Run
Middle School in Turbotville. He
is active in the school band where
he plays the drums. He also likes
to sing and play the guitar. At
home, he enjoys riding his four
wheeler, and playing with his
brother Zachary, 5. He is an ac
tive member of his church youth
group and serves as acolyte at the
Trinity United Church of Christ
in Turbotville.
Timothy spends a great deal of
time with his calves and heifers,
and is solely responsible for tak
ing care of them. His mom does
lend a hand with halter breaking
though. All of his hard work and
dedication have paid off as he
has won several showmanship
awards over the past three years.
His first year (1999) at the Pa.
State Junior Dairy Show, he was
10th in the junior showmanship
competition. The past two years,
he has captured the overall Jun
ior Showmanship Award at the
county fair, (Montour-DeLong
Fair) which is held in Washing
tonville. He has qualified for the
State Junior Show all three years
that he has been in 4-H. One of
his biggest accomplishments took
place this year when his Red and
White Holstein winter calf, Mid
dlebush Finale Lizzy - RED
placed second at the Pa. State
Junior Dairy Show.
Timothy is an active member
in the North-Mount 4-H Dairy
Club. He was the recipient of the
Roxy LeVan Award in 2000. To
apply for this award, all members
had to write an essay about their
experiences that year in 4-H. He
won a $lOO savings bond. He also
wrote an essay this past summer
about why he wanted to return to
Camp Brule (Sullivan County)
4-H camp. His essay won the Jun
ior division and he was awarded
a free week at camp.
This year Timothy was able to
persuade two of his friends to
join 4-H. Neither friend had ever
shown a calf before. He invited
his friends over to his uncle’s
farm and taught them how to
lead, set up, and clip a calf. They
all had much fun together, as
Timothy enjoys helping others.
Timothy is looking forward to
showing this year as he finally
has his first “bred and owned”
animal. Her name is Lime-TAB
Red Marker Riley RED She
was born on Dec. 6, 2001, and
Timothy helped his dad deliver
her. He spends a lot of time with
her and she already follows him
around the yard like a puppy!
Timothy writes this letter about
his show experience:
Last year, I ended my essay
waiting for my first year 4-H
project to have her calf I was
very excited about this. Unfor
tunately, seven months into her
pregnancy, something hap
pened and my heifer lost her
calf After this, she became very
sick. My mom took her to Cor
nell Veterinary hospital in New
York where they tried to save
her. After a three-week battle,
we had to put her to sleep. This
was very hard for my mom and
I. We both cried for a long
time. / still miss her and it was
very hard to get my show sea
son started without my favorite
heifer. Somehow / managed.
Good things this year were
that I was able to talk two of
my friends into joining our 4-H
club; Elias Biddle and John
Hertzler. We all had a good
time this year. They spent quite
a bit of time at my house where
my parents helped Elias and
John to learn things they
needed to know about showing
a dairy calf. We always had a
good time, but we worked very
hard.
In June, I wrote an essay for
a contest and I ended up win
ning. I won a free week of 4-H
camp at Camp Brule. This was
great because I was already
planning on going, but now my
parents didn’t have to pay.
They were happy about that
too. I always have a great time
at camp and this year was no
different. There are always
many things to do and lots of
people to talk to.
I went to several different
shows this year. I showed a
winter yearling (my project
from last year), and I also pur
chased two new calves. One
was a Holstein spring calf and
the other was a Red and White
Holstein winter calf. I had a
pretty good show year with
both of them. Both of my
calves qualified for the Pa.
State Junior Dairy Show in
Harrisburg. My biggest accom
plishment with them was in
Santa with Rudolf is really Timothy Betz and his calf.
Harrisburg when my Red and
White calf won second place. I
was very happy about this.
/ also had another good year
in showmanship. I won overall
junior showman at my county
fair for the second year in a
row. This was really exciting
for me. I work very hard with
my calves over the show season
so that they listen to me when
we get in the show ring. After
wards, some of my friends
asked me how / managed to
win two years in a row. I just
told them, many long walks
with my calves.
Timothy Betz
Age 11