Buyers rally around local youth during Bellville Fair Livestock Auction

BELLVILLE — Most kids earn a pretty penny selling their livestock projects at the Bellville Street Fair.

Cameron Lanker sold his 238-pound hog and walked away without a cent.

A senior at Clear Fork High School, Lanker raised the fair’s “scholarship hog.” Proceeds from the $5,100 sale go back to the high school’s FFA chapter to help students pay for uniforms and camp costs.

Lanker, 18, has raised the scholarship hog for the fair for the last three years.

“(I do it) to give back to all the kids for the Ag program. It’s done a lot for me, taught me a lot of life skills and lessons,” said Lanker, a treasurer of Clear Fork High School’s FFA chapter.

“I’ve learned a lot of communication skills. Work ethic was also a big thing, but probably my biggest one that I’ve taken away from it was time-management skills — learning how to balance Ag stuff with other commitments and make it all flow.”

Lanker is also a member of the Blue Ribbon Livestock 4H Club. He showed a pig at the Knox County Fair and a breeding heifer at the Richland County Fair.

Raising hogs is hard work – they need twice daily feedings and spray downs, regular baths and enough training to tame their stubborn instincts.

Cameron Lanker, 18, raised the scholarship hog for this year’s Bellville Street Fair. Proceeds from the sale go to the Clear Fork FFA to help keep student costs low.

“Getting the hogs broke to show at first definitely takes a while, and there’s some that are more stubborn than others,” said Alina Van Horn, who took top showmanship honors with her reserve champion hog.

“I won senior showmanship and then went back in against everybody else who won their division to the pro showmanship,” Van Horn added.

Van Horn is vice president of the Clear Fork FFA chapter and a 4H club in Morrow County, where she resides. The 15-year-old said she open enrolls at Clear Fork primarily for the opportunities available in its agriculture program.

She said the key to showmanship is moving the hog in the direction you want it to go.

“You want to give the judge all the angles of your hog — walking towards them, away from them, side shots,” she said.

Van Horn has been raising and showing hogs since she was 4 or 5 years old.

“My dad showed when he was younger and we’ve always run a hog farm, so I was just kind of born into it,” she said. “I really love when we have baby pigs, they’re my favorite.

“I always think they’re so cute and I just love being around them.”

Van Horn sold her hog for $700. She said she plans to put the money towards college. She’s not sure where she wants to go yet, but hopes to purse a career in livestock breeding.

Alina Van Horn corrals her reserve champion market hog through the sale ring at the Bellville Street Fair.

Saturday’s sale included dozens of buyers, from local businesses to buyer’s clubs to politicians on the November ballot.

Students of all ages stepped into the straw-carpeted ring with braided hair, cowboy boots and plaid button downs. Little girls held mums bigger than their heads to give to whomever bought their animal. Little boys grinned and swung upheld palms in a ‘c’mon’ motion, urging bidders to go higher and higher.

Buyers paid hundreds, sometimes thousands — and most didn’t even take the meat home. Those who did were required pay a “buy bid” in addition to their auction bid.

The total sale amount from grand and reserve champions alone was $15,100.

Keep scrolling for more photos of the sale and a list of the grand and reserve champions.