McGavin, Hern are tops at Huron County Plowing Match, OPA Junior Match attracts 28
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
While Mackenzie Terpstra and Jillian Simpson may have dominated headlines as the winners of the Queen of the Furrow and Princess competitions, respectively, at this year’s Huron County Plowing Match recently, there was much to be celebrated out in the fields as well.
Thursday - Junior Day
On Thursday, Junior Day, the Huron County 4-H Sodbusters Club held its achievement day under a blazing hot sun. Clayton Hern was named the Top Plow Person with 138 points and he also took home the Ross Gordon Memorial Award for the day’s Top Crown. Cole Hugill won the William Leeming Memorial Award for Top Finish.
The club members were, in order of finish: Clayton Hern, 138 points, first place; Cole Hugill, 132 points, second place; Joel Fleet, 129 points, third place; Dugald McIntosh, 126 points, fourth place; Percy Parsons, 123 points, fifth place; Ryan Miller, 120 points, sixth place; Jessalyn Hendriks, 117 points, seventh place; Keith DeKroon, 115 points, eighth place; Brendan Hickey, 109 points, ninth place; Wyatt Govers, 108 points, 10th place; Darcy Fear, 106 points, 11th place; Aiden Hickey and Jarrett Fleet, 104 points each, tied for 12th place; Ben Speer, 101 points, 14th place; Anna Fear, 99 points, 15th place, and James Speer, 90 points, 16th place.
Leaders for the day were Melissa Veldman, Brian McGavin, Troy Leeming and Sarah Miller, while the day’s helpers were Jeff McGavin, Don Dodds, George Townsend, Lucas Townsend, Mark Baker and Chris Baker.
Friday - the 96th annual Huron County Plowing Match
As for the awards handed out at Friday night’s banquet for the 2024 Huron County Plowing Match, which welcomed 40 local and visiting participants, Brian McGavin was the Senior Champion, followed closely by Paul Dodds, the Reserve Senior Champion. Clayton Hern was the Junior Champion and Dugald McIntosh was the Reserve Junior Champion.
Tom Evans won the Don Dodds Award for the highest score for a visitor with 150 points, while Keith DeKroon won the Van-Lea Award for the youngest plower and Clayton Hern won the McGavin Family Award for the Top Junior Plowperson from Huron County.
Richard Elliot was the Antique Plowing Senior Champion and Cameron Vos was the Antique Plowing Junior Champion.
The rest of the results are as follows:
• Class 2 - Huron Junior Class: first, Clayton Hern; second, Dugald McIntosh; third, Cole Hugill; fourth, Anna Fear; fifth, Brendan Hickey; sixth, Ryan Miller; seventh, Ben Speer, and eighth, James Speer.
• Class 4 - Huron Junior Green Class: first, Joel Fleet; second, Aiden Hickey, and third, Keith DeKroon.
• Class 5 - Huron Senior Division: first, Brian McGavin; second, Paul Dodds; third, Lucas Townsend; fourth, Chris Baker; fifth, Troy Leeming, and sixth, Andrew Fear.
• Class 6 - Open Junior Two-Furrow: first, Austin Brodhaecker; second, Alex Cameron; third, Sidney Sicard; fourth, Lynden Little, and fifth, Breanna Little.
• Class 7 - Open Senior Two-Furrow: first, Brian Sterling; second, Patrick Sanders, and third, Meghan Cameron.
• Class 8 - Open Three-Furrow Plow: first, Anthony Bertrand.
• Class 9 - Open Reversible Plow: first, Tom Evans, and second, Mackenzie Reinhart.
• Class 10 - Antique Trail: first, Richard Elliot; second, Ken Milligan; third, Richard Pepper; fourth, Paul Robinson, and fifth, Tom Thede.
• Class 11 - Antique Mounted: first, Doug Smith; second, Jim Cox; third, Paul Hodgson, and fourth, Brian Helkaa.
• Class 12 - Horse Sulky Plow: first, Jordan Shortreed, who was also the winner of the Best Team Plow Award, sponsored by Miller Ace Country Market of Exeter.
• Class 13 - Horse Walking Plow: first, John DeKroon.
• Class 14 - Antique Junior: first, Cameron Vos.
Sunday - the first-ever Junior Zone 3 Plowing Match, hosted by the Ontario Plowmen’s Association
This initiative, meant to bring more young people into the world of competitive plowing, was held at the Vermue family farm near Bayfield, where the Huron County Plowing Match took place.
Allison Pepper, zone director with the Ontario Plowmen’s Association and its second vice-president, said it was a great day, despite a bit of rainfall that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the participants. During the pre-registration period, Pepper said, there were about 12 young people registered, a number that climbed to about 19 the night before the match. Then, on the day of, 28 participants attended from Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth, Lambton and Middlesex Counties, which Pepper says was a tremendous turnout that exceeded her expectations.
She thanked Bryan Bertrand, Paul Dodds and Steve Speller for serving as the judges for the days, the Vermue family for hosting and Robert’s Farm Equipment for sponsoring the day with prizes, lunch, merchandise and more.
The results from the day are as follows:
• Experienced Class: first, Alex Cameron; second, Dugald McIntosh; third, Sidney Sicard; fourth, Wesley Brown; fifth, Ryan Miller, and sixth, Ben Speer.
• Intermediate: first, Cole Hugill; second, Brendan Hickey; third, Wyatt Reyneveld; fourth, Noah Reyneveld; fifth, Aiden Hickey, and sixth, Cameron Vos.
• Inexperienced: first, Jessalyn Hendriks; second, Brooklyn Sanders and Gavin Gross; fourth, Carson Little; fifth, Joel Fleet; sixth, Eva Vos; seventh, Lincoln Voth; eighth, Logan Gross; ninth, Owen Hill; 10th, Jarrett Fleet and Chayle Oatt; 12th, Lyndon Little; 13th, Brianna Little; 14th, Anna Fear; 15th, Avery Brown, and 16th Keith DeKroon.