Zack Wecker and Little Lady.
Courtesy | Sandy Knapp
In his final year of competing at the Delaware County Junior Fair, Zack Wecker won not only the Grand Champion Pen of 3 Meat Chickens, but also the coveted Showman of Showmen award.
“We had the highest-quality birds that were still maintaining a uniform structure for the market show,” Wecker told The Gazette after the wins. “Did the same thing we’ve done in the past years, but we did walk them more. Market chickens will make for a good dish.”
The pen of chickens was 8 weeks old and around 7.6 pounds each, Wecker said. The Poultry Show took place on the first day of the fair, Sept. 14, in the Poultry Barn.
Wecker, of Sunbury, is in his first year at The Ohio State University and is a member of the Kountry Kids 4-H group. He is the son of Andy and Kendra Wecker.
“I’ve been showing poultry and rabbits for 10 years at Delaware and Hartford (Fair in nearby Croton),” Wecker said. “I only show lambs at Hartford, and I showed them for nine years.”
As for the Showman of Showmen event on Sept. 18 in the Junior Fair Show Arena, winning showmen from other animal classes go around the ring and field questions from different impartial volunteer judges, and those scores are tallied to determine the winner.
“It’s all question-based for showmanship, and I happen to have studied the right things that put me ahead of everyone else,” Wecker said. “I won showmanship with my black Sumatra bantam hen who I like to call Little Lady. She always likes wandering away from the rest of the chickens and doing her own thing. Little Lady will continue scratching grass, looking for bugs all she wants.”
Zack said he thanks his “parents for supporting me from the bleachers. My siblings who found better ways to raise market chickens and learning more about questions the judge would ask while they were exhibitors. Also, to all my friends that made 10 years at the fair the best ones of my life. Especially Clay Whitaker, Abbie Sapp, Emma Irvin, and Jonah VanGundy, my first friend group in 4-H. Competing against friends in the ring will be something that I’ll never forget.”
His siblings are older sister Madelyn Wecker (showed rabbits, sheep, and poultry at Delaware and Hartford); older brother Cole Wecker (showed poultry, rabbits, and lambs at Delaware and Hartford); older brother Grant Wecker (showed poultry at Delaware and Hartford); and younger brother Jake Wecker (currently showing poultry and rabbits at Hartford and Delaware).
Madelyn Wecker runs the Showman event, and she provided The Gazette with the other entrants, in order of finish: Noah McAllister (sheep), Logan Lucas (dairy goat), Kasen Knapp (beef feeder), Cooper McGlothlin (dairy cow), Ava Anderson (market goat), Julia Clarke (llama), Lauren Kuba (steer), Gabriella Brigham (rabbit) and Morgan Hohman (pygmy goat).
“Logan Lucas won both alpaca/llama showmanship and dairy goat showmanship,” Madelyn Wecker said. “He chose to represent dairy goats.”
She also noted that “the Burger family sponsored the last 10 years’ worth of clock trophies,” and the Henmick Farm and Brewery was the banner and jacket sponsor.
When not competing, Zack Wecker said the Buckeye Valley Booth “is always fun to eat at after finishing a show because you sometimes see your friends working it.”
As for the future, Zack Wecker said, “I’m pursuing an education in animal science and hope to help out with the fair next year. Maybe even come back to 4-H camp as a teen camp counselor.”
Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He can be reached at 740-413-0906.
