A successful debut (WITH GALLERY)
Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 12, 2025
Raylann Johnson was the first ever grand champion in the 4-H and FFA Market Turkey show. (Heath Harrison | The Ironton Tribune)
Fair hosts first ever turkey competition
ROME TOWNSHIP — History was made on Tuesday at the Lawrence County Fair, when the first ever Market Turkey and Showmanship competition took place in the small animal barn.
Jackson Gates was the first ever senior showman in the 4-H and FFA Market Turkey at the Lawrence County Fair in Rome Township on Tuesday. (Heath Harrison | The Ironton Tribune)
Judged by Dr. Rick Bokanyi, the competition drew 22 4-H and FFA members, who showed 41 turkeys to a very packed house.
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As the first ever group to show the birds at the fair, it was a new experience for those taking part and 4-H staff said Bokanyi provided a lot of support and instruction along the way.
He said in the showmanship portion of the event, in which the 4-Hers tell the judge about the animal, he starts with two questions.
First “What kind of turkey is this?” he said, describing the many varieties that can be shown at county fairs. And second, they are asked the bird’s gender.
Brynlie Gore, with judge Dr. Rick Bokanyi, was the first ever reserve champion in the 4-H and FFA Market Turkey at the Lawrence County Fair in Rome Township on Tuesday. (Heath Harrison | The Ironton Tribune)
The turkeys are walked into the ring, using a cane, much like the way hogs are shown at the fair.
A few were stubborn and needed extra prodding.
“Walk it like it’s a wheel barrel,” Montana Runnels, of the senior fair board, who was one of the key organizers in bringing the turkey show to the fair, told one students on how to lift the bird by its tail feathers.
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One of the most difficult parts of showing is when the 4-Her is asked to flip the turkey, holding it by its legs for the judges.
Brant Gore was the first ever junior showman in the 4-H and FFA Market Turkey at the Lawrence County Fair in Rome Township on Tuesday. (Heath Harrison | The Ironton Tribune)
Bokanyi said some of the “big football players have trouble” doing it, while some of the younger girls pulled it off easily.
The first ever grand champion for the market turkey event was Raylann Johnson, of Symmes Valley schools.
“It feels amazing,” she said, adding that she had been raising her turkey since March.
The reserve champion was Brynlie Gore.
In showmanship, Jackson Gates, 16, won as senior showman.
A member of the Lawrence County 4-H Teen Leaders and the FFA program at Symmes Valley schools, he said it was his first time raising turkeys.
“Just being able to show it,” he said was the biggest challenge in his animal project.
Montana Runnels, of the Lawrence County Fair Board, helps a 4-H member flip her turkey at the Lawrence County Fair in Rome Township on Tuesday. (Heath Harrison | The Ironton Tribune)
Coming in as junior showman was Brant Gore, 14, of Symmes Valley and the Kitts Hill Willing Workers 4-H club. He said it was also his first time raising turkeys.
Runnels said this was the first time the fair had added a new species in “a super long time.”
She said they had to get enough members to show interest by February.
“We met our goal and it was worth it to us,” she said of the amount who took part.
She said for the turkey show, a new arena had been built, with turf donated by Guy’s Floor Covering.
There were also new turkey pens built at the fairgrounds, which were paid for through funds raised in the Lawrence Country Trade Day event Runnels organized at the fairgrounds in May. A second Trade Day, with proceeds going to fair needs, will take place from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Aug. 30 at the fairgrounds.
Runnels said the feedback they heard from Bokanyi as positive.
“It was a lot of work, and he said we had great quality this year,” she said. “The kids did well.”
She was also pleased with the large crowd, and said they definitely plan to bring the competition back next year.
“And, hopefully, more do it next year, now that they got to see what it is like,” she said.
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