PHOTO PROVIDED Katelyn Taylor with her heifer, Kairy, plus four additional bovines from Elimsport, will be competing in the 4-H Division at the Lycoming County Fair.

ELIMSPORT – In the barns at the Brett and Laura Taylor farm near Elimsport, a bevy of bovines will be entering a beauty contest at the Lycoming County Fair.

Nurturing bovines, otherwise known as cattle, is the effort of Katelyn, the couple’s 12-year-old daughter. One of 20 members of the Bald Eagle 4H Club, the young farmer is entering three dairy heifers and two Black Angus heifers.

Unique identities were given two of the animals. “One of my Holstein heifer’s name is Kairy. Born in June which is known as Dairy Month, her mother’s name is Katie so I needed a ‘K.’ name. I just replaced the ‘D’ with a ‘K’. Windmill is a beef heifer so called because while being weaned, she’d whip the halter on her head around like a windmill,” Katelyn said.

Getting to the fair is nothing less than a synchronized orchestration. Once there, fair time is show time. Like any beauty contest, judges are involved. Much attention had been spent training the animals to ‘struck their stuff’ and ‘strike a pose’. The bovine’s body structure will be charted and a carefully coiffured tail and polished hoofs might just tip the scales into becoming the winner.

Katelyn joined 4H to continue a tradition. “My mom and many of my parent’s friends were raised in 4-H. I begged my parents to restart the Bald Eagle club to show dairy cows. As I get older, I saw and received opportunities to do more with 4-H activities. It let me branch into other organizations and currently I hold leadership roles locally and at other levels,” she said.

Currently the group’s president, Katelyn participated in a Dairy Bowl in Centre County, where her team placed second in state competition. She is also a Dairy Miss on the Lycoming County Dairy Princess Promotion team, a program she requested to restart after eight years of no service.

The popular song, “Nine to Five,” is not a typical schedule at the farm. Katelyn works from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to the cattle, farm chores include tending to pullets, chickens, and a sawdust business. The industrious youth reminds us that behind the scenes there is paperwork, repairs, marketing, and plenty more.

At Montgomery School this fall, Katelyn will enter the eighth grade where she had been on the distinguished honor roll and yearbook staff. In sports, she plays on a travel softball team, plus Little League spring and fall softball for Montgomery.

She is a member of the youth group at Eiimsport Baptist Church volunteering in children’s church. In the spare time that’s left, she and her bevy of bovine beauties, come to the fair.