Families bond with animals, each other at Derry Township Agricultural Fair

Addison and Emma Heeter’s sisterly bond will be tested Thursday when they go head to head, showing their dairy and beef cattle at the Derry Township Agricultural Fair.

It’s a test the 19-year-old identical twins have always passed since they began showing animals at local fairs when they were 4.

“We’re always a little bit competitive when we go in the ring,” said Addison Heeter, whose dyed blonde tresses are one of the things that visibly set her apart from her twin. “But once we come out, we’re both happy for each other, no matter what happens.

“She’s beaten me several times, and I beat her several times.”

Emma Heeter concurs. “We’re very competitive toward each other, but we’re also each other’s biggest supporter,” she said as they checked in at the fairgrounds Sunday with three cattle apiece.

Animals with scales and others with furry coats will be among the attractions at the annual Derry Township Agricultural Fair, continuing through Saturday along Route 982 just north of New Derry.

The Heeter sisters, 2023 graduates of River Valley High School are attending Penn State’s New Kensington campus together, both majoring in animal science.

In addition to steers, they’ve entered goats and lambs at the Derry Township fair and, for the first time, three dairy cows — which they purchased from friends.

“My two dairy cows are sweethearts, and I’ve really created a bond with them,” said Emma Heeter. It’s a bond she”l continue to enjoy, unlike that with the Hereford steer she’s expecting to part with at Saturday’s fair market sale.

“That’s always sad, but it’s just the reality of things,” she said.

“This is our last year in 4-H, so these market cattle are a little extra special,” said her sister. “We’ve been working with them for close to a year. You feed them every morning, and they become like your best friend and part of the family.”

An added compensation of showing animals at the Derry Township fair is renewing friendships with other area families who share the same interest.

Fellow cattle exhibitors the Heeters have come to know include Becca Boggs and her children — Colt, 12, and Rachel, 14 — who are showing calves they’ve raised on their Salem Township dairy farm. The younger members of the Boggs family have been coming to the Derry Township fair for four years.

“They get to see friends that go to different schools,” Becca Boggs said.

On Sunday, Rachel Boggs applied a purple soap to the coat of her red Hereford calf Cayenne to help brighten and set off the markings of its coat for the show ring.

“It makes the white pop,” said her mother.

In a nearby fair tent, 16-year-old Sydnee “Oliver” Showers of Derry Township was busy putting the finishing touches on the cages of several rabbits he, his 7-year-old brother Lynkin and their mother, Wendy, will show at the fair on Wednesday.

He has high hopes for his red New Zealand buck named Pigeon, who placed fourth in his class at last year’s Westmoreland Fair.

“Hopefully, he’ll do pretty good,” Showers said. “If not, it’s OK, as long as we’re having fun.”

The New Zealand breed is known for its muscle tone and dense fur.

“There’s never a day with rabbits when you’re not covered in fur,” Showers said.

A rising junior at Derry Area High School, Showers is vice president of the local FFA chapter and will enjoy spending time with other club members during the fair.

“I’ll be working at the kids’ booth,” he said. “We’ll be doing tattoos and spin art and just having fun.”

Wendy Showers began showing various breeds of rabbits in 2002 and got her children involved in the hobby at a young age.

In addition to the Derry Township and Westmoreland fairs, the family has participated in shows sanctioned by the American Rabbit Breeders Association.

The Derry Township fair has an added appeal for Wendy Showers.

“I like it because it’s a little bit smaller,” she said. “I think it gives it a little bit more of that family feeling.”