Two Nanton area boys stood tall and proud in the High River agricultural centre, holding the halter of the black Angus yearling they cared for since last fall as the bids grew higher.
Sixteen-year-old Jarett Wideman and his 11-year-old brother Rhylen had spent the past seven months feeding, halter training and grooming Clark - the Longview 4-H Beef Club’s donation steer.
It was a proud moment for both when the 1,343-pound animal was auctioned for $30 a pound – an amount raised from the club canvassing the community for donations - before being sold back to the auction and then purchased for $4 a pound by long-time winning bidders of the donation steer John and May Lockhart. The $45,662 goes directly to the High River District Health Care Foundation.
“I’m happy,” said Jarett with a smile. “He sold for a lot of money.”
Rhylen was also beaming.
“He sold for quite a bit of money,” he said. “We’ve raised him pretty good.”
It’s a job neither brother took lightly.
The Widemans were asked by club general leader Stephen Hughes to do the task.
Jarett, who had been in the club four full years, mentored Rhylen, who just started 4-H last fall.
“Last year I helped a little, but I didn’t really know what it all involved,” said Rhylen. “I thought it would be a good experience. It’s been fun.”
Caring for Clark required the boys to feed him a mixture of rolled oats, barley and molasses, keep his hoofs trimmed and coat well groomed, and teach him to follow on command.
The animal was donated by the boys’ grandparents of Mapiatow Ranch.
In addition to caring for Clark, Jarret was responsible for raising another steer and cow-calf pair while Rhylen was responsible for raising a steer for the regular part of the 4-H club’s program.
“You have to spend a lot of time with them – the more the better – so they learn to trust people,” said Jarett. “Every morning we had to get up and feed them. We worked after school, after supper and on weekends. I like working with cattle.”
Jarett admits that Clark was his favourite of the animals he cared for this season.
“I liked his personality,” he said. “He’s sweet and he is super easy to catch.”
Rhylen also kept busy, caring for his own steer in his first year with the club.
“I learned a lot, like you have to be careful around them because sometimes steers can decide to kick,” he said. “The whole year I learned much more than I thought I would.”
Project leader Jessica Giles said the boys put a lot of work into caring for this year’s donation steer.
“It was a learning experience for both of them and it was neat for the kids to see their hard work pay off,” she said. “It’s great to see Jarett mentor his younger brother.”
Hughes said he asked the Widemans to care for this year’s donation steer because they’re a strong family in the club.
“It’s a family I could count on to do a good job of it,” he said. “They’ve been in the community a long time. It was an honour to ask them.”
Hughes said he’s proud of the work and commitment displayed by the boys.
“They did an awesome job on the steer this year,” he said. “I was really proud of them and really proud of that family. They did an awesome job representing our club and our community.”
Hughes said Clark is worth around $2,200, therefore raising more than $45,000 is a number to be proud of, he said.
“It’s a crazy amount of money considering how much they’re worth,” he said.
“It’s a neat way of raising money. It’s great to see the community support the club.”
The Longview 4-H Beef Club has raised and auctioned off a donation steer to give back to the community each year for the past 12 for various causes, raising more than $200,000.
