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This year Callie won the Champion Angus Heifer and Champion Bred and Owned Angus Heifer at the Alabama Junior Livestock Expo in Montgomery with Anna Bell, a heifer raised on their farm. She will be going to Denver, CO this month to represent Alabama in Showmanship at the Jr. National Angus Show.
Callie understands all the hard work that goes into raising cattle. She not only takes care of her herd of 16 cattle (14 cows, a show calf and young show bull) but also helps feed, water, set out hay, vaccinate, whatever is needed on the farm of the family’s herd of 60 head of cows.
The family depends on the Lawrence County Exchange in Moulton for not only feed for their cattle but for medication, tags, fencing… just about anything farm related. They also purchase other things such as garden related items. Bill said he has been doing business with the Co-op since 1977.
Callie said that her first memories of the Co-op were “going to get feed with Daddy. We would always walk through the back where they were loading up feed and tell them what we were going to get before going to the front. I always remember the smell of the feed. I don’t know what it is about the smell when you first walk in back where all the feed is.
“I would then go and get gum from the 10-cent gumball machine up front and run around looking at everything in the store. I always liked to talk to all the older men at the counter because they are always so nice.
“Now Daddy sends me to the Co-op for a whole bunch of stuff. I remember one weekend not long ago that he sent me at least 4 times. I went back and forth. When I got home, he would think of something else he needed.”
Callie has been in and out of the Co-op so much that Darrell Thompson, store manager of Lawrence County Exchange in Moulton, feels that he has watched her grow up. He is proud that the Co-op, through their scholarship program, has been able to help Callie in what she obviously enjoys doing and is good at doing. Darrell said, “Callie’s
accomplishments in showing her steers and heifers are amazing. In many areas, her knowledge of the cattle business surpasses many men and women who have been in it for a long time.”
Callie is responsible for her herd. Along with their daily care there are the extras required by a show animal. She usually starts working with the calves at about 7 months of age (weaning age) and handles those that are going to be part of a cow/calf pair at a younger age. She washes and grooms them a lot to train their hair to go in the right direction, walks them to break them and to teach them to hold up their heads.
Over the years people have given her a hard time thinking that her father and Cobie did all the work, but this year with Cobie at college and her father working, she was able show them that she could do most of it by herself.
However, she admits that her father does the morning feedings. Bill said, “Since I work second shift, she would have to do everything in the evening by herself.”
Cobie is currently at Auburn studying to become a vet. Callie reflected, “He helped me out a lot. This past year was difficult in a way because he wasn’t here and I had 5 show calves in the barn. So he really did help me. I didn’t realize how much until he moved off.”
She remembers one time in particular when showing a cow/calf pair at the Field Day at Auburn this past year, “I got in the ring with a cow that was an old show cow of mine and I had done well with her. She was always my favorite, but I knew she was going to act up when we got in there because she wanted to see her baby and it had to walk behind her. I walked in with her and Cobie had the calf. We swapped in the middle of the ring because she had acted so bad that it had jerked my shoulder out. Everybody laughed because we switched.” This can be a common problem with cow/calf pairs and it did not stop her from winning Grand Champion.
Callie’s mother, Brenda, who works at
Cargill, always supports both Callie and Cobie by going to the every show. Callie explained, “One time we were walking the calves and we had so many, we were each walking one down the road. We gave her what we thought was the gentlest one so it wouldn’t hurt her. We were coming up the driveway and a dog or something scared the calf. It took off running, she fell down and it dragged her. Ever since that she hasn’t cared too much about walking them.”
Callie gets help from more than just her family. This season Callie had the most animals she has shown at one time. She showed 6 (2 steers, 3 heifers and a cow/calf pair). When she has more than one animal coming back into the Championship classes, her friends help her by showing the others. Callie said, “I have friends that also show Angus. That’s one good thing about it, when you’re all friends like in the Jr. Angus Association, you help each other out. I have been asked to show other people’s calves when they have more than one in a class. We just help each other out like that.”
Callie graduated with honors from Hatton High School in May 2005, with a GPA of 3.99 and plans to start at the University of North Alabama this fall on a full tuition and housing leadership scholarship. She will start as sophomore due to taking dual enrollment classes during the summer since the 10th grade.
Since she started winning, Callie has received several scholarships. Some of these she gives credit to her favorite cow, Denton, because she has won the most shows. In addition, the farm from which Callie purchased Denton has a scholarship program; so the more Denton won, the more Callie received.
In total she has won approximately $8,500 in scholarships plus several cash prizes. She feels that each time she won helped build her resume and helped her win some of the other scholarships that were leadership based. The one she is the most proud of and surprised at is the scholarship from
Cargill. This was a nationwide scholarship based on academics, leadership, community service, an outside appraisal and an essay. Only 40 are awarded each year out of thousands of applicants. The remainder of the scholarships have been through the Lawrence Co. Cattleman’s Association, the Alabama Ladies’ Angus Association, Joe Wheeler EMC, Express Ranch and Lawrence County Exchange.
Callie said, “The best things that have came out of showing have been all the friends that I have made, the lessons I have learned, the opportunity to travel and the scholarships I have won.” |
