Fair Enough
Despite some of the bad news that seems to dominate the headlines these days, there are some very good people who are doing very good things in our world.
At last week's St. Joseph County (Mich.) Grange Fair, I learned about a situation involving an international exchange student living with a 4-H family in that county. Matt and Katie Holden of Sturgis and their two daughters, Makenna and Miley, are hosting Nele Strasen, a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Germany. She has been in the United States for a little over a month. The Holdens are a big 4-H family and they wanted Nele to experience the Grange fair, so they gave her a chicken to show and sell. It ended up being the grand champion market chicken!
Makenna, who is 15, picked out the chicken before Nele even arrived in the United States. She wanted her to have a good project, so she gave her the best chicken in the bunch. She could have exhibited that chicken for herself, but she chose to give away the best one to her new friend from Germany.
Nele was giddy when asked how she felt about winning grand champion. Although she lives on a small farm with a couple of horses and two dogs, this was her first experience with a county fair.
"I think I feel good because I don't really know what it means," she said. "I know it's a big title, but it was surprising to me that I won."
Nele told her parents about the big news, and she said they were very excited for her.
When she sold her prize-winning chicken in last Thursday's livestock auction, Nele was shocked by how much money she earned. The 12-pound chicken brought $1,000 and was purchased by a group of family and friends.
Nele wasn't aware that animals selling in 4-H auctions usually bring prices that are well above market prices, especially for the grand champions. According to Makenna, Nele's first reaction was, "Oh no, that's too much!"
Makenna, Miley and Nele have settled into the new school year at Sturgis High School. Nele will stay in the U.S. until June before heading back home. Makenna said someday she hopes to visit Nele in Germany.
From my perspective, it was heart-warming to see the Holden family welcome an exchange student into their home and give her the opportunity to show and sell a chicken at the fair. Both young girls were smiling from ear to ear when I talked to them. Their story is an example of how unselfish giving can make other people happy.