Two sisters are hoping the livestock they will be showing at the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fair will be standouts in the 4H market hog and market steer shows.
Maria and Elizabeth Trowbridge, daughters of Gene and Valerie Trowbridge, have been raising animals as part of the “Grow’em and Show’em Wyoming County 4H Club, which exhibits at the Wyoming County Fair.
Maria, 16, and Elizabeth, 14, are students at Elk Lake High School, and their farm is located in Auburn Center.
They had animals in the open shows at the Harford Fair, but have chosen to be members in the Wyoming County 4-H program because their interests most keenly follow the themes of the “Grow’em and Show’em” Club.
This club, whose members specialize in rearing animals for market, was known as the Wyoming County Beef Club for 10 years, but changed its name last year as the Fair opened a barn just for hogs and the name more adequately represented the range of animals shown.
Maria is president of the 4-H club, and Elizabeth is treasurer.
“We are looking forward to a good fair,” Maria said. “I like the Wyoming County Fair because it is spacious and relaxed, and I enjoy hanging out with my 4-H club members.”
This is the first year the Trowbridges have shown pigs.
They have been raising registered Angus cattle their entire lives, and both joined 4-H the first year they were able to become official members, which is the year they were eight as of January 1.
The Trowbridge farm raises beef and pork for custom orders, and also sells brown eggs.
They are looking forward to the auction of their animals, as they usually fetch a good price at the 4-H auction. Animals are sold to the highest bidder by pound, based on their live weight.
The profits go to the girls’ college funds. Both are good students, as well as athletes. Maria is well known for her distance running abilities, and both are on the Elk Lake Cross Country and Track Teams.
Maria, now a junior, has medaled at state championships since she was a freshman.
Their natural bent for competitiveness has served them well in 4-H. They both enter baked goods in the Wyoming fair: Maria usually enters the apple pie contest, and Elizabeth bakes angel food cakes.
Both of them had prize winning baked goods that were eligible to go on to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, and Maria’s pie made it to the top 25.
At the fair, the family’s steers bannered every year, which means that they were among the top four steers of their breed. All of their animals are born and bred on the farm, and are raised there. They use an artificial insemination breeding program, which Gene manages.
Their steers have been either grand or reserve champions for four or five years running.
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