Festival of Lights and Santa Parade
courtesy photos
Congratulations to the 2018 top 4 Light House Contestants
1st Place: 1010 S. Swegles Street St
2nd Place: 610 N. Lansing St
3rd Place: 204 East Gibbs St
4th Place: 804 S. Lansing St
Michigan 4-H and MSU dairy judging teams complete successful year
The 2018 Michigan 4-H dairy cattle judging team competed in the youth division for 4-H and FFA members at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, in early November.
Three teams representing Michigan closed their seasons with strong showings at the 2018 North American International Livestock Exposition dairy cattle judging contest in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 4.
Contestants in all divisions judged 10 classes of cattle, with youth competitors delivering oral reasons to explain how they placed cattle in four classes. Collegiate and post-secondary competitors delivered oral reasons in five classes.
2018 Two-Year Junior College Division Dairy Cattle Judging Team (from left to right: Gerrit Baker, Kristen Burkhardt, Miriah Dersham, Rebeka McDonald, Coach Joe Domecq
Competing in the two-year junior college team division were Gerrit Baker of Byron Center, Kristen Burkhardt of Fowlerville, Miriah Dershem of St. Johns, and Rebeka McDonald of Conklin. All four are students in Michigan State University’s Institute of Agricultural Technology dairy program and all are Michigan 4-H alumni. The team placed third out of six teams. Baker placed sixth, Burkhardt seventh and McDonald ninth out of 24 individuals. In oral reasons, the team placed second, with each member placing in the top ten individual competition (Burkhardt fourth, Dershem eighth, McDonald ninth and Baker tenth).
Competing in the two-year junior college team division were Gerrit Baker of Byron Center, Kristen Burkhardt of Fowlerville, Miriah Dershem of St. Johns, and Rebeka McDonald of Conklin.
In the individual breed classes, the team took fourth in the Ayrshire breed class, with Burkhardt placing seventh. Baker won the Brown Swiss class, while the team was second and Dershem was eighth. In the Guernsey class, the team was first, with all four individuals taking top ten placings (Dershem third, Burkhardt fourth, Baker ninth and McDonald tenth). In the Holstein class, Baker took first, Dershem seventh, Burkhardt ninth and the team was third. The team also took home fourth in the Jersey class.
“It was a great experience to judge with awesome teammates and I’m proud of how everyone competed,” said Kristen Burkhardt. “Knowing that this was the last contest of the season, it was fun to reflect on how each of us grew throughout the year and what we accomplished along the way.”
2018 Four-Year Collegiate Division Dairy Cattle Judging Team (left to right: Cameron Cook, Madeline Meyer, Makayla Petter, Allison Schafer, Coach Joe Domecq
The four-year collegiate team representing MSU consisted of Cameron Cook of Pewamo, Madeline Meyer of Ionia, Makayla Petter of Hastings and Allison Schafer of Westphalia. Most of the team members are Michigan 4-H alumni, and all are seeking agriculture-related bachelor’s degrees.
Eighteen teams and 68 students competed in the four-year collegiate division. The team placed fourth overall and sixth in oral reasons. Individually, Schafer was fifth overall and Cook was tenth in reasons. In the breed classes, the team won the Ayrshire class and Cook placed fourth. In the Brown Swiss class, Petter placed third and Meyer was fourth. Schafer placed third and the team took home fifth in the Guernsey class. Schafer also took home eighth in the Holstein class.
“As I stepped out onto the green shavings for the last contest of the season, I reflected back to the beginning of the summer,” remarked Cameron Cook. “My teammates and I have made great memories this year and now we look to what’s next, what is our future. Looking back, I’m proud not only of what my collegiate team has accomplished, but what Michigan dairy judging as a whole did this year. It is exciting to stand in the arena with passionate 4-H members and see the bright future they, and really all of us, have ahead. This couldn’t be done without the help of all our amazing teammates, coaches, parents, sponsors and everyone else who helped us along the way.”
A Look Back – Window Night in Ovid
by Barry Clark Bauer
In 1971 Ovid held a “Window Night” to bring families downtown to view their Christmas shopping displays in their store windows. This was one of many scenes that happened that night. Love the little girl looking back at the camera.
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – Holiday Pet Safety Hazard: Tinsel
courtesy of Dr. Sandra Mitchell
It is Christmastime, and the clinic is decked out with seasonal decorations, Christmas cards are displayed on the walls, and carols are playing in the waiting room. However, one couple that’s waiting looks anything but happy, and their cat looks downright depressed. Socks was a 12-week-old kitten who had been vomiting for several days and was then lethargic and unable to keep even water down. Socks had indeed eaten some tinsel which had become stuck throughout his intestinal track.
Sadly, this is a very common holiday experience for most veterinarians. Cats and dogs—particularly younger animals—are inquisitive, and the holiday season brings all kinds of new things into the household, from trees and decorations to packaging and new foods. All of these have their own inherent dangers, but none are as common of a pet safety risk as tinsel.
What Is Tinsel?
Tinsel refers to the strands of shiny plastic or metallic decorations that mimic bits of ice that many of us love to use on our trees and wreaths. Sometimes it comes as individual strands, and other times, it comes in longer ropes.
Silver used to be the “standard” color, but in recent years, gold, blue, red and green tinsel has become increasingly popular. These strands are difficult to chew and do not break down in the intestinal tract. They are surprisingly strong and can become lodged in places such as under the tongue or within the stomach or intestine.
How Is This Dangerous?
Tinsel is incredibly dangerous to both dogs and cats as well as other household pets who might see fit to play with it. Often, the animal starts out playing with the shiny tinsel, which shimmers and moves with the lightest touch.
This exploration then involves the mouth—and then the animal winds up actually eating it. For some, it will head down the “wrong pipe”—causing them to choke and cough. With luck, they are able to actually cough it up and out—eliminating the problem. For others, though, the tinsel is actually swallowed and heads down into the intestinal tract.
What If Your Pet Swallows Tinsel?
So, what happens after it is swallowed? If we are really lucky, nothing—and your pet simply has some shiny poop a few days later. However, if the tinsel gets hung up anywhere along the way—under the tongue, balled up within the stomach, or strung out in the intestinal tract—we have a problem, Houston.
This is a situation referred to by veterinarians as a “foreign body”—something stuck in the intestinal tract that doesn’t belong there. Many times, this triggers vomiting and a reduced appetite. Because it can occur a few hours to a few days after the tinsel was ingested, owners often no longer remember what the pet ate that may be causing a problem. Once the tinsel has been swallowed, we really don’t have a lot of choice except to wait and watch for any signs of illness. Some animals will only have mild signs, making the owners thing that she just ate something that didn’t sit quite right. Other pets will be markedly ill.
My Pet Is Sick. Now What?
The sooner we see your pet after they have become ill, the better we can help—so don’t waste any time if you think your animal may have eaten tinsel.
Once they are showing signs of illness, we will usually do some testing, including an exam, radiographs and sometimes an ultrasound. If we confirm or strongly suspect a foreign body, most times, surgery is required.
Our goal is to go in and find and remove the tinsel as quickly as possible, before it can cause more mischief—and repair any damage that it did while moving through the intestines, which sometimes can be quite severe.
How Do I Keep My Pet Safe?
The whole process of removing tinsel sounds horrible—how do you prevent this from happening to your pet? Personally, I simply do not include tinsel in my Christmas decorations. My animals are not able to eat something that isn’t even in my house.
However, if this decoration is an important part of your holiday rituals, consider using the rope-like tinsel, which is harder for the animals to eat in any quantity. Placing any tinsel you use—whether the rope form or the strand form—up quite high and out of the reach of your pets is helpful.
Keep in mind that cats will enjoy climbing the Christmas tree, so you may not even be able to place it high enough in the tree to avoid those curious paws.
So, what happened with Socks, the sick kitten at the start of our story? After an extensive surgery, tinsel was removed from his stomach and three different places in his intestine. Fortunately, however, he was able to make a full recovery and was back home with his owners in time to celebrate the New Year.