After taking fourth place in dairy feeder showmanship at the Isabella County Fair Monday morning, Mel Stevens had some time on her hands.
Mel, a member of the Beal City Pioneers 4-H Club, gathered with friends in the dairy barn at the fairgrounds, the group sitting around a large cooler, playing Uno.
A breeze wafted through the dairy barn as the friends discarded and picked up cards, passing the time between shows and other responsibilities.
A student at Mid Michigan College, Mel, the daughter of Doug and Pam Stevens of Nottawa Township, is studying applied sciences but dairy isn’t far from her heart.
Growing up on Stevens Farm LCC, Mel prefers showing dairy cows to feeders – castrated dairy bulls – and has been doing so longer.
“I haven’t done feeders as long as I’ve done dairy,” she said. “I’ve only done feeders for four years.”
Stevens, a 2019 graduate of Beal City High School, has been showing dairy cattle for 14 years.
Showing a dairy feeder and a dairy cow, Stevens said this year’s fair is bittersweet, because at 20, she is aging out after this year’s fair.
It won’t be the end of fair attendance for Stevens, whose father, Doug Stevens, has been dairy superintendent for two decades.
She might not be on the fairgrounds for the whole event next year, but she’ll attend shows and cheer on her friends, some of whom she sees only during fair week.
“There are people you don’t see,” she said. “All of a sudden, they come back and you just hand out.”
Another reason to return is to cheer for her nephew, Austin Stevens, will start showing at the fair next year, the second generation from the Stevens family.
The fair continues until the auction Thursday night.
Tuesday at the fair
- Youth swine showmanship followed by judging, 8 a.m.
- Youth rabbit showmanship and breed classes, 8:30 a.m.
- Midway opens, kid’s day, 1 p.m.
- Still exhibit building open, 1 to 9 p.m.
- Youth sheep showmanship followed by pee wee showmanship and judging, 4 p.m.
- Super Kicker Rodeo, 7 p.m.
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Friends pass time between shows at Isabella County Fair - The Morning Sun
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