By Norman Nabholz
Allen Hetts was worried in 1963 and not worried about himself or his family or his prized herd of Holsteins. This most popular of cow people was worried that his home away from home that he looked forward to staying for nearly two weeks in the Fall, his resort if you will, where he and his comrades would live together in barns, enjoy each others company and compete with each other, dine together, play a little cards, perhaps have a drink or two, the kind of things that guys do together with a common bond of in this case showing cattle at the highest level may disappear.
Hetts could feel that his home away from home for those two weeks was getting ready to pull the welcome mat away and he could sense it, feel it and he was scared. Hetts was from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin which wasn’t all that far from his resort of sorts, the famed National Dairy Cattle Congress or as the cowboys called it, “Waterloo,” was getting ready to make a change and not the kind that Hetts and his pals were going to like.
Besides the powers that be (we must remember that the people in charge ALWAYS know what is best) knew that the days of the big dairy shows were coming to an end. Besides that, people wouldn’t travel to see cow shows let alone haul them across the country to compete. The people came for the fair part of the Cattle Congress and not to see the big bulls or the beautiful strings of cows. This was the 60’s and cow shows were going to be a thing of the past.
There were several words used to describe Allen, including, “driven”, impatient, smart, hard working, etc. The one word that would not describe Hetts was “follower.” So Hetts returned to his homeland after the 1963 show and gathered up some friends and decided that maybe they might want to start their own show, “just in case.” This show would be “Exhibitor Friendly” and run by a board of directors made up of cow people. Kind of like their dream show, close to home, where they could showcase their stock to maybe a world wide audience. What could be described as humorous but to use an Iowa phrase “if we build it they will come” and by golly they did. That was ‘63 and there were still two more years left of the tile barns, the card games and the steaks at the Kit Kat. Two more years of “The Elis stories,” two more years of a bit of fun with “Raymond” or laughing with Rehder or perhaps sharing a drink with Mike Stewart. This was old home week and Hetts and his boys were about to need a new home.
During the glory days of Waterloo, Wisconsin Holsteins and Hetts would take on all challengers at their home away from home. Their state herds would doggone be near unbeatable with the likes of Pabst, Gray View, Sunny Lea and Hett’s famed Crescent Beauty Farm. (From 1947 to 1961 Wisconsin had nine Grand Champion Females out of the fifteen shows) The likes of Ray Brubacher, Nelson Rehder, Elis Knutson, Gene Nelson and the Mayer boys became legends as was their invasion across the Mississippi River to Waterloo.
Allen Hetts started his career in 4-H at age seven and enjoyed much success as a youngster showing at the competitive Wisconsin Junior Holstein shows achieving just about every honor available for a Junior. Adulthood would be forced upon him at the age of 18 with the untimely passing of his father, Roy L Hetts in 1939. Crescent Beauty farm on the outside of Fort Atkinson would remain a small and select herd of Holsteins with individual care and attention to detail always first and foremost. A marketing program that was second to none was established and export sales to Japan and South America made for a farm run like a business. The milk check was secondary to breeding stock sales. Showing and showing at the highest level was always a must at Crescent Beauty.
Waterloo was the pinnacle and from a herd of no more than 30 milk cows and a like number of heifers, Hetts would take on herds several times bigger and funded by multi-millionaires and end up with a steamer trunk full of banners and trophies to haul back to his beautiful farm.
Crescent Beauty cattle were in high demand at the sales and for export. Almost every winning state herd had Crescent Beauty animals in it. Allen would spearhead the group with Gene Nelson, Sylvester Weiler, Ray Brubacher and others. It would be rare to find an animal in the state herd that wasn’t a first or second place winner. After all the competition throughout the year at Milwaukee, Waukesha, district and state shows, the Wisconsin boys took great pride in joining forces at Waterloo and winning that coveted state herd banner.
Some Waterloo highlights:
1 Crescent Beauty Lady Gloria
Grand Champion Female 1949 (as a 3 Yr. Old)
2. Crescent Beauty Commander
Grand Champion Male 1952 (Lady Gloria's Son) (Exported in 1954 to Japan for $10,000 which
This would be around $82,000 in 2009 money.
On it's way to Tokyo, Commander took a boxcar to Seattle and then onto the boat headed for Japan.
3. Da-Co-ton Crescent Fannie
Grand Champion Female 1957 (purchased by Allen for $500 as a yearling in South Dakota)
“Fannie” calved two hours before being loaded on the truck to Waterloo with Crescent Beauty Triumph
4. Queen Crescent Fobes Lady
1st 3 Yr. Old and All American 1953
5. Crescent Beauty Admiral Milly
1st Sr, Calf and All American 1964
The last National show at Waterloo was in 1965 and how fitting that the judge of the great show at a mere forty four years of age was Allen Hetts.
Allen had shown at Waterloo for 19 consecutive years up to 1965. At the last big “Waterloo” Allen made Harborcrest Rose Milly his Grand Champion cow at near 10 years of age for Paclamar who also won the dry aged cow class with Snowboots Wis Milky Way. Gray View would win six firsts and Wisconsin would win the last state herd class at the famed hippodrome. Allen would show at “Waterloo” after the demise for one year when he exhibited Kings Artic Rose to a Supreme Championship for her owner
.
One more banner, a blanket of roses and back this time not to Fort Atkinson or Chicago, instead on to Allen’s show.
Kings Artic Rose
The World Food and Dairy Expo--Madison in infancy.
Allen’s buddies, and he had a lot of them, would honor him with his Klussendorf award in 1970 two years before his death. He would join his fellow Holstein pals from Wisconsin including Elis, Merle Howard, and Raymond. What a group! Although Allen left the world way too early, few if any have accomplished more in such a short time than he. His memory lives on when they present the Grand Champion Female trophy at “Allen’s Show.” Some call it the most coveted trophy in dairy cattle and I couldn’t agree more. What makes it more special was the first Holstein to win the “BIG TROPHY” was Bayland Crescent Charmaine owned by Hetts himself.
Bayland Crescent Charmaine
Bayland Crescent Charmaine
It seemed like there was always one great cow in Allen’s barn if not more, but always one. At the time of his death that cow was Gene Acres Felicia May Fury, who would be named Grand at Allen’s show a year after his death in 1974. Near 40 years later people still compare cows to “May” when a cow is spotted with balance and dairyness and style.
Wisconsin bred and born, this cow was always a ring favorite and held a special place in the hearts of Holstein enthusiasts for years after her great victory.
A little bit about “everybody’s sweetheart” as told by Roy Hetts.
“Ray Potter was the breeder of Felicia May and all of the Mulder prefix cattle. Paul Wixom (Gene Acres) sold the farm to Jerry Mulder about the time May was born but Ray
stayed on as manager. Wixom and Mulder were businessmen outside of agriculture. Greg Bovre told Dad about two good Fury daughters. Ray was fed up with showing because of all of the politics, but knew May needed to be shown and Dad was the guy who could give her the best chance. That is the only reason Ray sold her. He told
me this fifteen years after Dad passed away. The other Fury went to Waldvogels. Roy Ormiston of Roybrook made the pair Grand and Reserve at the Wisconsin Championship
Show in 1972.”
The Northeast Iowa District Holstein show is one of the finest going. Present day stars of Regancrest and Moondale farms have a great foundation with the likes of Mike Stewart and Rockcrest (Art Johnson) and Dick Lomen and more taking great pride in this four county show usually held in July. Allen would judge the show one hot summer day in 1968 and would make a two year old Champion owned by farmer-breeders. It was obvious that he liked her and right after the show he bought her right there in front of all the N.E. Iowa folk. The cow, Matter Marquis Magician Mary, would go on to be Grand at Harrisburg later in the Fall and become one of Allen’s last All Americans. A lasting memory of the day was one of Allen’s longtime friends I.P. “Mike” Stewart would joke with his pal about making a 2 Yr. Old Grand at such a good show. You had to know Mike but to say that the whole ringside heard him was an understatement.
I visited Crescent Beauty in 1969 and as I remember it was a winter day and Allen took the time to show me his beautiful herd and his lovely farm. I am positive that Allen Hetts had much more important things to do that show a Jersey boy from Iowa his cattle and take the time out of his busy schedule to discuss how he bred cows, showed cows, sold cows, but he did as we sat on a barn ledge. I was honored but that was Allen I am told. That memory that will last a lifetime.
