Tom Swain Memorial Showmanship Class Marks 46th Anniversary

No fair this year meant no Tom Swain Memorial Showmanship class the first year the class, unique to Decatur County and unaffiliated with Purdue Extension, hasn't happened. The event, first held in 1974, is dedicated to the memory of Tom Swain, a Rush County native who worked as an agricultural representative at the Decatur County bank and was active as a 4-H livestock judge, he and his two sons were killed in an automobile accident in 1973.

Participants must know how to show all five livestock species dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, sheep and goats and the top two expert showmen from each species are invited to participate. It’s not unknown for 4-Hers to start showing other species around their seventh year, in preparation for the Tom Swain. As one person active in organizing the event said, “when you come out of [the showmanship for your main species] and you’ve won that’s something and then a day or two later to compete at that level, you’re pretty good. You don’t find out until fair week that you’re going to be participating [in the Tom Swain class] so it’s like a pop quiz.”

This article originally ran on wtrecommunity.com, August 3, 2020. Read the full story here.