The Good Spirit Beef Club wrapped up its season’s activities with an annual achievement day, which was held on July 5 at the Yorkton Exhibition Grounds.
The club featured its 17 members from Canora, Rhein, Norquay, Invermay, and Theodore during the competition, which was judged by Cathy Pillar. Fourteen heifers, two cow/calf pairs, and 14 steers were considered for judging.
The Good Spirit Beef Club is just one branch of the Good Spirit 4-H Club, with the other two being a horse club and an outdoors club. From November to July, the club holds regular meetings with the organizer of the program, Meridee Kopelchuk.
Leading up to the achievement day, club members prepared by learning how to wash their animals, watching videos on competitions, and by participating in a judging clinic taught by Lance Leachman of Maidstone, a Hereford breeder and international cattle judge. They also participated in the Canora Winter Lights Parade, public speaking events, and fundraisers such as a bottle drive in order to purchase club supplies.
The club has been in action for over four years, and it is a project-based organization that reflects the interests of Good Spirit area youth in everything great from a rural perspective, according to the club’s Facebook page.
“We teach the kids basically everything regarding cattle, from how to feed them and raise them to competing,” Kopelchuk said.
The youth competed in categories including judging, record books, and showmanship, and were split into four age divisions: cloverbud, junior, intermediate, and senior. The top two placings in each category would move on to the Yorkton 4-H Regional Show.
In the judging category for cloverbuds, Paisley Wolkowski of Canora placed first; Jessee Kopelchuk of Canora second, and Wyatt Wolkowski of Canora third.
For the junior division, Codee Kopelchuk and Porter Wolkowski placed first and second respectively, while Grady Wolkowski of Canora and Eric MacDonald of Invermay tied for third place.
Other competitors included Landon Burkell and Macy Burkell of Rhein, Cort Simpson of Theodore, Caitlin Filipowich of Norquay, and Amber Macdonald of Invermay.
In the intermediate judging category, Kiah Simpson of Theodore placed first. Canora residents Taralee Bazarski and Cody Bazarski won second and fourth place respectively, and Kaitlyn Burkell of Rhein was awarded third place.
Shaelynn Bazarski of Canora won first place for the senior judging category. The placings remained consistent in the record books category.
In showmanship, cloverbuds Jessee Kopelchuk, Paisley Wolkowski, and Wyatt Wolkowski placed in first, second, and third respectively.
In the junior division, Codee Kopelchuk won first place and moved on to the regional show, where she yet again won first place in the junior category and sixth place in the overall showmanship category.
Other winners included Landon Burkell, second; Cort Simpson, third; Porter Wolkowski, fourth; Grady Wolkowski, fifth; Caitlin Filipowich, sixth; Amber Macdonald, seventh; Macy Burkell, eighth; and Eric Macdonald, ninth.
In the intermediate showmanship category, Kaitlyn Burkell won first place, Taralee Bazarski won second place, Kiah Simpson won third place, and Cody Bazarski won fourth place. Shaelynn Bazarski placed first in the senior showmanship category.
The achievement day also included showings by breed.
Division One was for market steers over 1,400 pounds. Kaitlyn Burkell’s steer, Kevin, placed in first at 1485 lbs. Second, third, and fourth went to Landon Burkell’s steer, Bob; Codee Kopelchuk’s steer, Cannon; and Cort Simpson’s steer, Reeko.
In Division Two, the first place market steer between 1,100 and 1,399 lbs. was Houdini, raised by Kiah Simpson and weighing 1,203 lbs. Second place went to Macy Burkell’s steer, Ralph; third to Grady Wolkowski’s steer, Onyx; and fourth to Shaelynn Bazarski’s steer, Pimento.
Division Three judged steers between 950 and 1,099 lbs. Blaze, owned by Porter Wolkowski, placed first. Other winners included Jessee Kopelchuk’s Wilbur (second), Cody Bazarski’s Bob (third), Caitlin Filipowich’s Hank (fourth), Eric Macdonald’s Bruiser (fifth), and Taralee Bazarski’s Cobalt (sixth).
The Grand Champion Market Steer Award went to Kiah Simpson and Houdini. The Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer was Kevin, owned by Kaitlyn Burkell.
The club members who placed in the regional show were: Caitlin Filipowich, with third in division; Porter Wolkowski, with first in division; Kiah Simpson, with second in division; Landon Burkell, with first in division; and Kaitlyn Burkell, with third in division.
Heifers owned by the club members were also judged based on breed. In the Black Angus category, Cort Simpson won first place with his heifer, Lizzie. Second went to Laura, owned by Landon Burkell; third to Daisy, owned by Kaitlyn Burkell; fourth to Kate, owned by Amber Macdonald; and fifth to Vonda, owned by Eric Macdonald.
In the Hereford class, Codee Kopelchuk’s Calico won first place. Second and third went to Jessee Kopelchuk’s Fern and Caitlyn Filipowich’s Anger.
For the Simmental class, Porter Wolkowski was awarded first place for his heifer, Moxie. Taralee Bazarski and Darla were awarded second place; Grady Wolkowski and Shirley, third; Shaelynn Bazarski and Caraway, fourth; Cody Bazarski and KC, fifth; and Wyatt Wolkowski and Ginger were awarded sixth.
The Grand Champion Heifer Award was presented to Cort Simpson and Lizzie. The Reserve Grand Champion Heifer Award went to Codee Kopelchuk and Calico.
Two club members also won for the cow/calf pair category. Grady Wolkowski won first for raising Phyllis and her calf, Roxy; while Cody Bakarski was awarded second for Queen and her calf, Prince.
Before the club’s achievement day, the members had an excellent showing at the Yorkton 4-H Regional Show, Kopelchuk said. The exhibition, which was held on July 6, had 41 heifers to be judged. Porter Wolkowski won first in the Simmental Heifer class and then Reserve Grand Champion Exotic Heifer. Landon Burkell and Cort Simpson placed second in their own angus classes, while Codee Kopelchuk placed second in the Hereford class. Cort Simpson went on to win the Overall Reserve Champion Female Award.
The Yorkton 4-H Regional Show featured a market steer sale. The 14 club members sold steers and the businesses they sold them to were: Kiah Simpson (Choppers Portable Welding), Kaitlyn Burkell (Big Garry’s Hail Insurance), Landon Burkell (Canora Ag Society), Macy Burkell (Grain Millers), Porter Wolkowski (Richardson Pioneer Canora), Jessee Kopelchuk (Grain Millers), Codee Kopelchuk (CPS and Richardson Pioneer Canora), Cort Simpson (Parish & Heimbecker Ltd.), Grady Wolkowski (Parish & Heimbecker Ltd.), Shaelynn Bazarski (Canora Corn Trails), Cody Bazarski (Yorkton Auction Mart), Caitlin Filipowich (Yorkton Exhibition), Eric Macdonald (Yorkton Exhibition), and Taralee Bazarski (Grain Millers).
