Cathy LeMay Brown
In September of 2014, town of Scott residents Randy and Ann Krueger purchased two yearling steers from their neighbors, Kent and Wendy Reinhardt. The animals were given to their teenage children, Abbi and Zach, with the understanding that they would raise the steers, show them at the Lincoln County Fair and then donate one-fourth of the selling price of their steers to charities of their choice.
Abbi, an eighth grader at Prairie River Middle School, received the Intermediate Beef Showmanship Award at the 2015 Lincoln County Fair. Zach, a ninth grader at Merrill High School, won the Grand Champion Carcass Beef Award at the Lincoln County Market Animal Show and Sale. For both of the Krueger children, this was their first experience in showing beef, and they were guided by members of the Reinhardt family, from whom their parents had purchased the steers.
Abbi’s steer was purchased by Roger and Becky Hinner, owners of Merril Iron and Steel, who then donated the meat to the Merrill Food Pantry, along with the meat from two additional steers and two hogs. Subsequently, Abbi donated $1,785 to Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) in memory of her godmother, Joni Kunkel, who died in April 2012 of ovarian cancer.
Zach’s steer was purchased by Jim Brickner of Brickner’s Park City, and Zach then presented his gift of $1,165 to Immanuel Lutheran Church in the town of Corning to help defray the cost of a new chair lift, which will transport handicapped parishioners from the ground level to the basement.