The Berks County 4-H Swine Club hosts the Celebrity Swine Showmanship Competition at the Kutztown Fair on Aug. 14 at 7 p.m.
“Come on out to the Kutztown Fair on Monday, August 14th at 7 p.m. and cheer on your favorite Berks County principals and superintendents as they go HOG WILD competing in this year’s Celebrity Swine Showmanship Contest!” writes Michele Brown on Facebook. Brown is assistant Swine Club leader and coach for the Berks County 4-H Livestock Judging Team.
The event, sponsored by Berks County 4-H Swine Club, will feature Mr. Andrew Netznik from Tulpehocken High School, Mr. James Brown from Kutztown Middle School, Mr. Chris Spohn from Hamburg Area High School, Mr. Michael Stauffer from Oley Valley High School.
Brown explains the process. The Swine Club members will be split into teams. Each team will work with a celebrity to teach their celebrity how to show a pig at the fair. This includes scrubbing the pig and preparing for the showmanship competition. The 4-H members give tips and instructions. The 4-H members teach the celebrities how to show a pig using a practice pig. They use a pig whip to tap the pig’s shoulder to guide the pig in the ring. The celebrities will be judged on Fitting Class and Showmanship Class.
“The purpose (of the Celebrity Swine Showmanship Competition) is just to reach out to the community. There’s so much misinformation… We thought it would be a good way to educate people who are not connected to the livestock industry and give them some insight into what these kids do and the work they put into preparing their animals for the fair,” said Brown.
