By Dawn Mausser
Who would have thought that turning nine could be such a huge milestone in a child’s life. For Grace Hageman of Mill Valley Farm of Sidney, Ohio that was the best part of May 2009.
Turning nine meant she could show her Jersey and Ayrshire heifers at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. Every day after school Grace rides the bus to her second home, Grandma and Grandpa Greiwe's farm. When Grace gets there she assists with the daily milking and in return for her labor Grace's Grandma allows her to exhibit her heifers.
She was extremely excited for Saturday November 7th, 2009, that was when she was to show her Ayrshire and Jersey heifers in the youth show in Louisville. However a slightly misreading of the rules by Grandma brought tears to Grace's eyes. The issue was that the Jersey Junior members must be nine by January 1st, while the Ayrshire youth just needed to be nine by the day of the show.
Grandma and Grace regrouped with renewed faith and set their minds on just showing in one show that day. But for Grace watching the Jersey show all day and patiently waiting for the Ayrshire show at 2:30 seemed like an eternity.
When her time to shine finally arrived, Grace got her moment of glory as she led her heifer with a huge smile on her face. Her senior calf placed second, behind the junior champion. As Grace walked out of the ring donning her smile she walked into the warm embrace of her Grandma Greiwe.
Grace reported showing was a great time and that she had a lot of fun even though she was a little nervous.
With one successful national show under her belt, it is a given fact that Grace Hageman of Mill Valley Farm will have many more to come.
Grace wasn’t the only winner from Mill Valley that day, they also took home grand champion Ayrshire honors with Mill-Valley Rosel's Ginger, the 1st place aged cow.