Worth County Fair 2014
4-H Awards
4-H Activities
Dedication of Statue of Janice Hullinger Norris
Globe Gazette, Mason City article by KRISTIN BUEHNER kristin.buehner@globegazette.com
NORTHWOOD | A large crowd at the Worth County Fair turned out Wednesday to welcome back its queen of the cattle showing arena, Janice Hullinger.
A Worth County legend at the age of 16, Hullinger, now Janice Norris of Unionville, Mo., and her steer, Shorty, took first place at the Worth County Fair and the Iowa State Fair in 1954.
She was entered in the Junior Livestock Show at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, where Shorty won the Grand Champion Junior Beef Award. That led to an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.
At a ceremony where the statue of her with her steer, Shorty, was unveiled inside the gate at the Fairgrounds, Hullinger said it was a "pleasure and an honor" for her and her family to attend the event.
The event was also attended by officials with the Iowa State Fair, 4-H staff members from Iowa State University and Hullinger's fellow 4-H club members from the Lincoln Junior Farmers Club.
"We were green, really green," Hullinger told the crowd of her experience in the Big-Time. "I didn't know anything about showing steers in a big arena. It's a whole different thing out there."
She credited her success to others who helped her, especially Bud McBride of Alberta, Canada, who was also a special guest at the unveiling.
He was feeding cattle at the Chicago Exposition in 1954 "when this little girl and good-looking girl came up," McBride told the crowd.
Hullinger had heard that Bud was working with the J.C. Penney cattle herd and the conversation went from there.
He helped her groom Shorty after Janice had done a good job of washing him, McBride said.
"She showed in the open show with 300 steers," he said. "She won the first class. Everybody was so excited. We were so glad for the Hullinger family."
Hullinger remembers that she was advised to "be the first one in that arena and walk right in front of the judge. And that's just what we did."
The American Angus Association arranged for her to appear with Shorty on the Ed Sullivan Show. McBride went along as groomer.
"They had a truck ready with feed and everything," he said of their arrival.
They stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, went shopping at Macy's Department Store and met Kirk Douglas, Eartha Kitt and Mitzi Gaynor while on Ed Sullivan.
Hullinger remembered that Ed Sullivan was very polite and a little afraid of Shorty.
"He asked, "'Will he bite?'"
She went out to eat at the Stork Club afterwards, still wearing her blue jeans.
Her 15 minutes of fame changed her life.
The Crane Company provided the eight-member Hullinger family with a $30,000 home remodeling that included two new bathrooms, new kitchen, laundry room and running water in the house for the first time.
With money earned from selling Shorty, the Hullingers sold their farm near Manly and bought a cattle ranch in Harrison, Mo., Hullinger Acres, where they started a purebred Angus herd that produced many of their show animals.
"I was showing cattle the rest of my life," Hullinger said.
Of the new statue forever commemorating her as a symbol of Worth County 4-H, Hullinger said, "I don't think words can express how I feel. What I hope comes of this is to inspire other young people to enter 4-H. I want the kids to realize what an opportunity 4-H can be for them."
Globe Gazette Online - 6/18/2014
NORTHWOOD | A large crowd at the Worth County Fair turned out Wednesday to welcome back its queen of the cattle showing arena, Janice Hullinger.
A Worth County legend at the age of 16, Hullinger, now Janice Norris of Unionville, Mo., and her steer, Shorty, took first place at the Worth County Fair and the Iowa State Fair in 1954.
She was entered in the Junior Livestock Show at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, where Shorty won the Grand Champion Junior Beef Award. That led to an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City.
At a ceremony where the statue of her with her steer, Shorty, was unveiled inside the gate at the Fairgrounds, Hullinger said it was a "pleasure and an honor" for her and her family to attend the event.
The event was also attended by officials with the Iowa State Fair, 4-H staff members from Iowa State University and Hullinger's fellow 4-H club members from the Lincoln Junior Farmers Club.
"We were green, really green," Hullinger told the crowd of her experience in the Big-Time. "I didn't know anything about showing steers in a big arena. It's a whole different thing out there."
She credited her success to others who helped her, especially Bud McBride of Alberta, Canada, who was also a special guest at the unveiling.
He was feeding cattle at the Chicago Exposition in 1954 "when this little girl and good-looking girl came up," McBride told the crowd.
Hullinger had heard that Bud was working with the J.C. Penney cattle herd and the conversation went from there.
He helped her groom Shorty after Janice had done a good job of washing him, McBride said.
"She showed in the open show with 300 steers," he said. "She won the first class. Everybody was so excited. We were so glad for the Hullinger family."
Hullinger remembers that she was advised to "be the first one in that arena and walk right in front of the judge. And that's just what we did."
The American Angus Association arranged for her to appear with Shorty on the Ed Sullivan Show. McBride went along as groomer.
"They had a truck ready with feed and everything," he said of their arrival.
They stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, went shopping at Macy's Department Store and met Kirk Douglas, Eartha Kitt and Mitzi Gaynor while on Ed Sullivan.
Hullinger remembered that Ed Sullivan was very polite and a little afraid of Shorty.
"He asked, "'Will he bite?'"
She went out to eat at the Stork Club afterwards, still wearing her blue jeans.
Her 15 minutes of fame changed her life.
The Crane Company provided the eight-member Hullinger family with a $30,000 home remodeling that included two new bathrooms, new kitchen, laundry room and running water in the house for the first time.
With money earned from selling Shorty, the Hullingers sold their farm near Manly and bought a cattle ranch in Harrison, Mo., Hullinger Acres, where they started a purebred Angus herd that produced many of their show animals.
"I was showing cattle the rest of my life," Hullinger said.
Of the new statue forever commemorating her as a symbol of Worth County 4-H, Hullinger said, "I don't think words can express how I feel. What I hope comes of this is to inspire other young people to enter 4-H. I want the kids to realize what an opportunity 4-H can be for them."
Globe Gazette Online - 6/18/2014