On Wednesday morning, the Fayette County Junior Fair Market Turkey show was held with Drew Black being named the Grand Champion and Kelsey Leasure being named the Reserve Champion.
The Market Turkey Show was held in the Small Animals Barn at the Fayette County Fairgrounds and consisted of five classes.
According to Black, this was his fifth year winning with his turkeys. He is going to be a senior at Miami Trace this upcoming school year. He is a member of the Fayette Farm Life 4-H club and is a member of the Miami Trace FFA club.
“It feels good (to win), because I’ve been working with turkeys for years now, and I really think I’ve figured out how I like to do it and what works for me. So, it feels good that it keeps on working, and I keep getting good turkeys out of it. It really pays off, because I spend a lot of time with my animals and take good care of them,” he said. ”It shows that hard work pays off, because I spend hours everyday — usually about an hour, hour-and-a-half — with my turkeys and chickens.”
The first class consisted of four participants with five entries. Jonah Goddard took first, Luke Bennett took second, Lilly Workman took third, and Noah Kelsey-Lane took both fourth and fifth.
The second class consisted of five participants. Jenna Goddard took first, Aubrey Schwartz took second, Caleb Bennett took third, Bryce Bennett took fourth and Travis Workman took fifth.
The third class consisted of five participants. Drew Black took first, Elizabeth Aleshire took second, Caleb Bennett took third, Luke Bennett took fourth and Aubrey Schwartz took fifth.
The fourth class consisted of five participants. Kelsey Leasure took first, Jonah Goddard took second, Jenna Goddard took third, Lilly Workman took fourth and Travis Workman took fifth.
The fifth class consisted of four participants. Drew Black took first, Bryce Bennett took second, Elizabeth Aleshire took third and Mackenna Leasure took fourth.
Reserve Champion Kelsey Leasure explained, “This is my second time doing turkeys.”
While this year was Leasure’s second year showing turkeys, it was her first time getting reserve champion. She will be a junior in homeschool this upcoming school year and is a member of Perry Peppy Farmers 4-H club.
She recognized her parents — Amber and TJ Leasure, as well as the Waits family.
“They did turkeys, they started with turkeys. They helped me figure out a food plan and how to deal with turkeys and all that. They’re great… and my cat Willow — I love Willow,” said Leasure with a smile.
The judge for the event was Dr. Rick Bokanyi, who grew up in Cuyahoga County where his family had a small hobby farm, according to Junior Fair Board members. He raised and exhibited fancy poultry as well as commercial layers and market chicken and turkeys. He also raised eight different types of exotic pheasants and several types of gamebirds.
Bokanyi received a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD in Poultry Science from the Ohio State University. He is the senior scientist overseeing outbreak surveillance and detection for the Ohio Department of Health Laboratory. He has been judging poultry shows throughout Ohio and West Virginia for over 30 years.
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355.
