By DAVE SCHULTZ
The winner of the Royal Showmanship competition at the 2003 Wells County 4-H Fair was Baylee Sliger, an eighth-year 4-Her from Lancaster Township.
Sliger, in her fifth year as a Royal Showmanship competitor, worked with her “partners” to earn the trophy that was almost as tall as she was.
Royal showmanship participants have to show seven different animals. Sliger, who will be a junior at Norwell High School during the 2023-24 school year, did it best.
To do so, she had to get out of her comfort zone.
“I just came from the pig barn,” she said, “so I had to know all the others.”
The attraction of the Royal Showmanship event, she said, was the variety and the attitude. “It’s just always staying confident and getting to know your partner and always being able to stay calm and present yourself.”
She said she will recommend the competition to others. “I definitely would,” she said, but she offers a warning: “It takes a lot of hard work.”
The competition does broaden a 4-Her’s horizon, she admitted.
There may be another Royal Showmanship competitor in the family — Sliger’s 11-year-old sister, Brynlee. When asked if she too would be a participant in the Royal Showmanship competition, she responded with a soft smile and a simple word: “Yes.”
The sisters are the daughters of Jessica and Nick Sliger.
daves@news-banner.com
