Helping hands
Showing an animal at a county fair can be nerve-racking. After working for weeks and months, you get the animal in the ring and hope it cooperates when in front of a judge.
Erik Vlasak, the 17-year-old son of Neil and Karen Vlasak of Montgomery, has dreamed for years to show cattle at the county fair. Over the summer, Erik, who has autism, worked with “Butterfly Kisses”, a 1,000 pound heifer on the farm of Troy and Diane Domine. With assistance, Erik learned about the animal, trained and groomed it so it would look and act its best for the Le Sueur County Fair last weekend.
At the Open Class Beef Show on Thursday, Aug. 18, Erik was getting ready to realize his dream and escort Butterfly Kisses to the ring for judging when he got a case of nerves. Knowing this might be the case, Domine’s youngest son, Gunner, planned to help.
To read more about this heartwarming story, pick up the August 25 Messenger.