2018 Junior Dairy Show
At the 2018 Junior Dairy Show 26 Local FFA and 4H students in 3rd grade through high school competed to see who raised the best calves this year. Only calves born September 1st or after of last year were eligible to compete. The top 15 placed calves will be sold to the top bidder and the students receive the money. Many of the students try to buy their calves back since they forge strong bonds over months of caring for them. This year the sale will be on June 21st at 1:00. For more information about the sale or winners of the competions contact Amy Bowen at 903-488-2333.
KSST spoke with Johnny Lennon as he watched his grandson, Braden Lennon, whom he lovingly calls “John Wayne” at the Dairy Classic competition “My grandson’s winning” Lennon reports proudly. “This is Braden’s 5th year to compete. He’s won Grand Champion twice. We went to Illinois to get our calf ’cause we don’t have a dairy barn here. Lil John Wayne can sure pick ’em. He has the best calf out there. ” Braden’s mom, Carrie Cherney, applauds as her son passes by leading his prized calf. “Her name is Beverly.” Cherney says of the calf, ” This competition is a good way for kids to learn so much about life. It’s a lot of hard work but Braden loves it!” Braden took home first place in the Classic competition.
Ryan Caudle from Brashear, was on hand to talk with KSST . His son, Rhye, was competing in the Dairy Classic with an Ayrshire calf. The Caudle family dairy runs approximately 60 cows of which 1/2 are of the Ayrshire breed. “Ayrshires can be a little high strung but make great milk cows. They give lots of good butter fat, not as much as Jerseys but close.” “Rhye has shown calves every year for the past 5 years. He picked this one because he thought it would be a good show calf.” Dad says proudly as he points to his son who led a cute brown and white patched calf with lots of freckles across the arena floor. “It’s good experience for kids. Keeps ’em outta trouble!” Caudle says with a smile. 
Caudle’s daughter, Hannah is also involved with the show this year. “She graduated from Miller Grove last year and showed calves while she was in school. Now she helps out because it’s just in her blood!” Dad reports proudly.
Clayton Wallace and Mom, Chris, told KSST about their calf Linda. “She’s a Milking Short Horn, we named her after my Grandma!” reports Clayton. “Grandma Linda raised Milking Short Horns and so do we! I’ve had cows my whole life and this is my second year to show!” Chris explained ” Clayton is the 4th generation in our family to raise Milking Short Horns.” “It’s a very old, heritage breed. One of the oldest breeds in the country. They originated in England and were brought over by the pilgrims. They tend to be more docile than Holsteins” “You never know what color the babies are gonna be, each one is very unique!’ “We like to show everywhere we can. Clayton won National Junior Show in Kentucky last year!” Mom tells proudly. “We love the [Sulphur Springs] Dairy Show! It’s a fantastic show to support our youth and gives calves lots of practice!” The Wallaces have a dairy barn in Emory and run 15-20 cows a year. “i grew up on a dairy farm, it’s a great life! [Showing calves] teaches kids responsibility, respect and to put somethings well being before your self.
Chillin’ at the Ice Cream Freeze Off
Dj Abron and Landry Tyson were all smiles as they helped direct traffic at Shannon Oaks
Friends of all ages visited at the Ice cream freeze off while enjoying an exciting assortment of ice cream flavors. This year’s freeze off brought several hundred people out to the Shannon Oaks Church Lawn where the ice cream cooks had set up in the shade.
There were a variety of flavors for all types of folks. Fruit flavors included Banana, Plum, and Peach. A highly talked about flavor included Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Others included Caramel Macchiato, Cheesecake, Lemon Basil, and S’mores. Novelty flavors included: “Painkiller”, Dill Pickle, and Venom. There were also the classic ice cream staples such as Vanilla, Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Butter Pecan.
KSST caught up with two of the dairy festival contestants: Abbie Peckham and Kaitlyn Ferrell, who were “chillin’” and trying a few of the refreshing treats. Abbie’s favorite part of the Dairy Festival was “making new friends”. Kaitlyn added that while she enjoyed making new friends as well, she also liked “all the opportunities for fun activities!”
Addison and her mom, Crystal
Addison Bower, 3rd place winner in the Little Dip Competition, spoke to KSST about her winning Banana Ice Cream recipe. “Nana was my inspiration” Addison said as she fondly remembered how her Grandmother always makes banana ice cream. This is Addison’s 5th year competing, and she has placed, and won a medal every year. As the 12 year-old looks forward to starting 6th grade in the fall, she plans to enter again next summer and continue to perfect her favorite banana ice cream recipe.
Joyce with her daughter, Laurie
Joyce Lowther, an avid traveler and Winnsboro resident, has recently discovered the Sulphur Springs Dairy Festival. This is her second year to attend, and she has already blocked her calendar for next year’s event. Her daughter joked: “We can’t go anywhere [next year] because we don’t want to miss the dairy festival.” Joyce spoke about the many flavors in the 6 cups of ice cream that she tried. “It was all wonderful.” Her favorite flavors were “Cheesecake and Butter Pecan.” As she looked back on her 93 and ½ years Joyce was eager to impart the secret to a long and happy life which is “Being Optimistic”. Her Daughter, Laurie, laughed and added that it also helps “to have a daughter who takes you places.” Laurie explained that her mother is her best friend, and the two love to travel and do things together, but their new favorite destination is the Dairy Festival.
Ice cream was sampled and enjoyed by all and was the perfect after dinner treat. Dairy Queen provided free soda-floats. Kids and families danced and talked for the perfect end to a summer’s day.
2018 Bobby McDonald Milking Contest
The Annual Bobby McDonald milking contest yielded one of the most productive years to date. The total amount of milk milked for the day was over 160 ounces. Parents milked a total of 99.69 ounces and the contestants milked a combined total of 60.48 ounces. Dairy Festival Queen, Jaci Reed, demonstrated to the new Dairy Festival Queen contestants the best way to milk a cow while the judges set up their table.
2018 Dairy Festival Ice Cream Freeze-Off Winners
Little Dips:
Hot Air Balloons Lift Off Friday Night; Will Again Saturday Evening
Approximately 30 Hot Air Balloons are taking part in the Hopkins County Dairy Festival. Friday night the pilots and crews took advantage of the good conditions to take to the air. They plan to do so again Saturday following the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Ice Cream Freeze-off. The Freeze-off begins at 5:30 p.m. on the back lawn of Shannon Oaks Church. Balloons will lift following and the glow will begin as the sun sets.
Included on the passenger list of selected balloons were the Dairy Festival Queen contestants. Community volunteers assisted in preparing the envelopes for inflation. According to Carolyn McKinney, President of the Dairy Festival Board, there is a need for crew members Saturday evening to assist in preparing the balloons for flight.
Pilots for the balloons have varied backgrounds but the love of flight awakened their interest in hot air balloon flight.
Late Evening Thunderstorm Causes Some Tree Damage in Hopkins County
A huge oak tree, estimated to be over 100 years old, was uprooted by brief high winds and heavy rain on the evening of June 7, 2018 at a home off CR 1163 in the south part of Hopkins County. The storm first affected the western side of Hopkins County with dark clouds, lightning and brief downpours, then tracked along the southeastern part of the county. After it passed through the Brashear to Miller Grove areas, it caused this great tree to fall in the Bonanza community, just steps from the home’s front door.
The homeowner is Helen Barker, and her late husband was Tommy Barker, a former Ag agent for Hopkins County who succeeded agent Gordon Ford in 1972. Helen stated that as the skies grew dark, she went to look out the front door at the storm. Limbs were moving in the wind, but as she watched, it seemed as if she saw the great tree begin to rock and sway. Immediately, fearing that it would fall on the house, she retreated to another part of the house. When she returned to the front door again, she saw that the tree had just gently settled down along the driveway, clear her house, with the huge root ball exposed. The root ball appeared about 20 feet tall with it’s roots snapped off at the ground. Helen estimates that the tree trunk might have been 16 feet in diameter, and she does not know the tree’s exact age. Although glad that no one was hurt and no property damage done, she will miss the big old oak because it was like part of the family, and the reason they built their home in that spot 18 years ago.
The same thunderstorm’s passage brought reports of much-needed rain in the southeastern sections of the county, with one inch at Rocky Ridge, 1 and 3/10 inch south of Greenpond, and a half-inch of rain at Sandfield, south of Como.
Cross Taken in Weaver Cemetery Vandalism Recovered from Franklin County Pond by Inmate Volunteers
Friday morning at a pond in the Purley area in Franklin County, two Hopkins County inmates, Joseph Icenhour and Jesse Graham (in picture above), went into the water and retrieved a cross that had been cast aside there by Canyon Ray Davis, 17, of Saltillo, and Johnny Bench, 18, of Saltillo (both pictured below).
Davis and Bench threw the cross, taken from the Weaver Cemetery during vandalism, into the pond when they learned that they were subjects of the Hopkins County Sheriff’s office investigation of the incident.
Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum said his Criminal Investigators received leads from members of the community that have also been working vigilantly trying to solve the destruction of the Weaver Cemetery. Davis and Johnny Bench were arrested for Tampering with Evidence and Davis was also arrested for Criminal Mischief. Davis additional charge relates to damage done to a church building in the Pine Forest/ Pickton, area and damage to mail boxes. Charges for destruction of the grave markers will be pending after meeting with the District Attorney’s office.
Experience Texas’ Best Taste at 17th Annual Texas State Championship Ice Cream Freeze-Off On Saturday June 9
Lezley Brown, CEO of the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce and Director of the Texas State Championship Ice Cream Freeze-off and the World Champion Hopkins County Stew Cook-Off
Lezley Brown is VERY EXCITED about the response and numbers of entries in this year’s Chamber of Commerce Ice Cream Freeze-off. During the KSST Morning Show interview on Friday June 8, just one day before the contest, she revealed that her office is expecting several more entries to come in, putting the total way over 50 competitors. And although the contest is called a competition and the contenders are called “cooks”, there’s no cooking during the contest, and the competition is definitely the sweetest and friendliest imaginable. So, who wouldn’t want a State Championship title to go on the wall?
There’s still time to enter your best homemade ice cream recipe in a category. It can be Classic (vanilla or chocolate), or it can be in Fruit (any ice cream using fruit), or it can fall into the Novelty category (basically everything else) In age groups, there’s Big Dips (for ages 12 and up), Little Dips (under age 12) and Super Scoops (open to previous champions only). This year’s First-Timer’s category, for first-time contestants only , is the largest it has ever been! That’s encouraging to Lezley, who loves the fact that Hopkins County takes such pride in it’s food contests, and that the Freeze-Off is for everyone and every age, involving kids to adults, and newcomers to veteran ice cream-makers.
This contest has very few rules, according to Lezley, although she offers a couple of tips. You have up until 5pm Saturday June 9 to enter. For those entering last-minute, there will be sign-up sheets at the contest site on the rear lawn of Shannon Oaks Church along I-30 on East Shannon Road in Sulphur Springs, Texas. There is no cost to enter your prepared ice cream! Just make sure it’s well frozen, then transport it to the contest site where you will be settled at a serving table under the trees. TIP 1: Servers, don’t forget your ice cream scoop! There will be lines of people ready for dips of your ice cream. They will already be getting in line by 5pm to purchase their bowl and spoon for just $3, all you can eat. The starting gun will be heard at 5:30, and that’s when ice cream lovers will rush to sample all the different flavors. TIP 2: Don’t get there late! Because, in a very short time, all the ice cream is gone! But do plan to stick around at beautiful Shannon Oaks for live music and a “tether and glow” event where the 30-plus hot air balloons will light their burners and at dark, will glow with all the amazingly beautiful colors of the balloons. There will be balloon flights by some of the pilots, weather permitting. It is truly a memory-making part of Dairy Festival.
Along with cash prizes that the Ice Cream contenders will win are custom wooden trophies created by Mr. Frank Sears, a Hopkins County woodworking artist, who also creates trophies for winners of the World-Champion Hopkins County Stew Contest each October.
