Tatum Winner
In
Milking Contest
by: Bobby McDonald
Dairy Festival Contestant, Alina Tatum, shows her "poise"
and milking skills that landed her in the Winner's Circle
at the Annual Dairy Festival Milking Contest.
A large crowd assembled on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 to watch the popular Dairy Festival Milking Contest, that pits queen's contestants with their "bovine" counterparts for a little bit of fun. Queen Leslie Horne began the contest with a demonstration of "how it was done" and managed to "extract" at token amount of milk from a cooperative Jersey cow.
Then, the queen's contestants were allowed three minutes to complete their milking duties, as the crowd cheered them on, in the air conditioned Hopkins County Civic Center Arena.
Reading the weights.............Milking Contest Judges, Danny Evans, left, and Craig Roberts
work to make certain that every bucket of milk was weighed to exact weights and settled any
disputes in Saturday's Dairy Festival Milking Contest.
When the results were all in, Alina Tatum moved ahead of her fellow contestants to capture the champion milking title. However, the second and third place positions were a tie between candidates Candace Vanwinkle and Olivia Watson. A "milk-off" was held to determine the placing and Vanwinkle came away with the second prize, after a tired cow managed to kick Watson's bucket in the last seconds of the contest.
Winners in the 2005 Dairy Festival Milking Contest were right to left, Alina Tatum, first place,
Candace Vanwinkle, second place, and Olivia Watson, third place.
No sooner than the winners in the queen contestant's milking contest were named and the buckets rinsed, parents of each queen contestant were invited to take the same cow their daughter had attempted to milk and demonstrate their own skills at cow milking. Some quite unusual methods were administered and friendly advice was offered by the dairy festival candidates, as they were "pros," now.
Autry and Yadira Darden, parents of queen contestant, Amanda Darden, walked away with a respectable three pounds of milk that they had "coaxed" from their cow, to take the top honors. However, it required a "milk-off" to determine the second and third prizes, again, in the Parents Milking Contest. Dennis and Tracey Ballard, parents of Ashley Ballard managed to acquire enough milk to edge Lewis and Michelle Tatum from the second prize position.
Champion Milkers.......Autry and Yadira Darden, right, were top winners in the
parent's section of the milking contest, followed by Dennis and Tracey Ballard, center,
in the second place position. Lewis and Michelle Tatum were the third place
winners in Saturday's event.
As soon as pictures could be "snapped" and buckets cleaned, the pilots of the hot air balloon festival were engaged in a "sporting" contest of who could acquire the most milk from a "docile" Hopkins County Dairy Cow. For folks who are generally not familiar with the milking contest, there were some quite unusual techniques employed, but in the end loads of fun and excitement was created in the jovial competition.
2005 Balloon Meister, Sheronda Greenwood, "shows
her mettle"
in the Balloon Pilot's Milking Contest. She didn't get the most
milk, but had "a barrel of fun!"
Local dairymen, Randy Koon and Bryant Fisher provided the eight halter-broken cows for the 2005 Contest and this requires extra time and effort to bring producing dairy cows to Sulphur Springs and to interupt the milking schedule. Jerry Gibby, Chairman of the Milking Contest Committee, expressed his thanks to these two families who have provided the dairy cows for the contest for several years.
The real cow-boys.......left to right, Kory Koon, Blake Fisher, and Kyle Koon pause
during Saturday's milking contest to visit and discuss the "real" problems on a modern
Hopkins County dairy farm. Of course, the dry weather was one of the main concerns as
clear skies still offered no more promise of much needed moisture for hay medows and pastures.
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Allen Family Sweeps
Texas State Ice Cream Contest
by: Bobby McDonald
Texas State Champion.......Joy Allen, left, was named the Texas State Ice Cream
Champion on Saturday, at the Annual Dairy Festival Contest, that attracted over 75 entries.
Polly Swatsell, right, presents Allen with the winning tropy and prize money.
Extreme summertime temperatures and some mighty good ice cream were on the agenda for the 4:00 Saturday Texas State Ice Cream Contest, held on the Civic Center Grounds, beside the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Building. Polly Swatsell, Chairman of the contest, stated, "There were 75 entries and we had just a little bit of ice cream left, when over 1000 cups were sold to the hungry crowd. The number of entries were down from a record 105 freezers in the 2004 contest, but the quality seemed to 'make-up' for the number of entries!"
Judges tasted and discussed each entry in the contest and determined the best entry in each category. Categories included: Big Dip Novelty, Big Dip Plain, Big Dip Fruit, Super Scroop (Those who had previously won the contest), and Little Dips, for the youth participants.
Judges came from as far away as North Carolina and tasted each entry in the Texas
State Ice Cream Contest, then they marked a score based on taste, texture, and freezing
ability.
Over 1000 cups were sold to members of the crowd who lined-up to taste the award-
winning confectionary creations of the Texas State Ice Cream Contest participants. "The
best part of the contest is eating all the ice cream," denoted a full member of the crowd.
Joy Allen "bested" the 2004 Champion, Keith Shurtleff, who had to settle for a second place prize. Allen has won the contest in three previous years and her son and his wife, Jimmy Don and Chris Allen, managed to win the Big Dip Novelty Categories, by scoring first and second in the judging, for a "clean sweep" by the Allen Family. Billy Jack and Joy Allen are retired after over 40 years in the dairy business, and had one of the top dairy herds in the state of Texas on their Brinker Community Farm.
Contest organizers, left to right, Helen McDaniels, Kathy Nix, Polly Swatsell, and Pansy
Bell, were busy covering tables and organizing the contest at 8:00 on Saturday morning.
And, this "wild" crew of Chamber Directors and Ambassadors, paused from their duties
of selling cups and gathering ice cream samples, to offer a few tips on "stealing a taste" of
the many award-winning entries. "You just make sure that some of the ice cream drips down
the side of the cup, and then you can 'lick' your fingers," was the advice I heard!
David Gideon, left, and Beth Shurtleff "dip-up" some tasty
ice cream for the long lines of "samplers" that braved the
heat to get a taste of the winning combinations.
Winner's Circle.............Joy Allen, center, the 2005 Texas State Ice Cream Contest Winner,
is encircled by all the other winners in this year's contest.
In a popular, People's Choice balloting, where members of the crowd vote for the best ice cream they've tasted, twelve year old, Cooper Welch, managed to garner the most votes with his Peanut Butter Fudge entry. Other winners are as follows:
Big Dip Novelty
1st Jimmy Don Allen
2nd Chris Allen
3rd Johnny Steward
Big Dip Plain
1st Jeff Reagan
2nd Carlie Penson
3rd Tonya Ross
Big Dip Fruit
1st Roxanne Neal
2nd Bonnie Brumley
3rd Mary Ellen Hoybook
Super Scoop
1st Joy Allen
2nd Keith Shurtleff
Little Dips
1st Hannah Moreland
2nd Ben Watson
3rd Jaci Patterson
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Rip and Judy Vanwinkle pause during the Texas State Ice Cream Contest to reminisce a little bit, as they
viewed antique ice cream freezers that were part of a historic display on the site. Comments of, "do you
remember hand-cranking one of these," were quite common at the popular display.
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Miss Juneteenth
Names New Queen
by: Bobby McDonald
Miss Brittany Abrams, reigning Miss Juneteenth, makes her
final walk, as she thanked family and friends for their support
during her reign.
The Hopkins County Regional Civic Center Auditorium was transformed into a gala setting for the Miss Juneteenth Celebration Pageant, on Saturday night, June 11, 2005.
Mrs. Carolyn Thomas served as the Mistress of Cermonies of the contest that found four age groups of girls competing for crowns.
Seven young ladies 16 year of age and older competed for the Miss Juneteenth crown, in competition that judged candidates on interview, swimsuit, talent, poise, and evening gown competition.
Contestant #1, Miss Elizabeth Wilkins, draws her question from Mrs. Carolyn Thomas, Mistress
of Ceremonies, for her presentation in Saturday night's Miss Juneteenth Pageant.
Miss Keiya Harrison, left, and Miss Neasiah Miles compete in the evening gown competion at
Saturday night's Miss Juneteenth Pageant. They had earlier competed in the talent portion of
the contest, as well as a swimsuit competition.
Miss Latasha Lee, Contestant #4, competes in the talent portion Saturday night's contest. And, LaQuin
Fountain, right, prepares to answer her question for the judges in the evening gown competition.
In the talent portion of the competition, Miss Wilkins presented a monologue, and Miss Harrison recited a poem about her grandmother. Neasiah Miles sang a song, and Miss Lee danced to "Keep Your Head Up." Miss Fountain did a pantomime to "You Saved Me....And Gave Me A Second Chance. Contestant #6, Miss Whitney Roland recited a remarkable rendition of "Children of the Negro Mother." And, Miss LaWren Cannon did a presentation to "Still, I Rise."
Contestant #6, Miss Whitney Roland, left, competes in the evening gown competion and anticipates
her question, while Miss LaWren Cannon, Contestant #7, flashed the audience a beautiful smile, as she
completes her question response and prepares to walk the ramp in the competition.
While the judges tabulated scores, Mrs. Yolanda Porter Williams, who had earlier in the night won a close run-off election for Place 7 on the Sulphur Springs City Council, addressed the crowd and thanked them for their support, and pledged that she would work to her best effort in making changes in Sulphur Springs. Williams told the crowd that her door would always be open and she would respond to their concerns about the issues.
And the winners were..........Whitney Roland, left, was named the new Miss Juneteenth,
in ceremonies Saturday night. Latasha Lee, center, was named first runner-up, and LaQuin Fountain,
right, was named second runner-up in the competition.
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42 Tournament Features
Marathon Finish To
Name Winners
by: Bobby McDonald
Leslie Rawson and Scotty Reed flash smiles after winning the initial game in their bid
to win the Dairy Festival 42 Tournament.
What began as a series of simple games, lasted for six and one-half hours, according to Susan Kennon and Rodney Miller, who hosted the 2005 Dairy Festival 42 Tournament.
"Every team in the contest must play every other team, before being eliminated," denoted Kennon, who advised that winners weren't named until after 8:30 p.m., on Saturday night.
Junior Hinton, left foreground, waits for his next opponent in the 2005 Dairy Festival
42 Tournament. Hinton and his partner, Larry Fite, took second place in the tournament,
missing the winning score by only three points.
After all the games wee played, Tommy Rawson and Walt Gamblin were named the 2005 Champions and received the prize.
Partners Greg Martin, left, and Mike Kelty, await their next game and visit in the
Hopkins County Regional Civic Center Exhibit Hall, during the 2005 42 Tournament.
Josh Boatman, left, and his partner, Trey Hinton, listen to instructions before the
action began in Saturday's Dairy Festival 42 Tournament. They must have listened
well, as they were named third place in the tournament, missing the winning mark
only by six points.
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For more Dairy Festival pictures, click here