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Sister Act: Katie Fry makes history as family’s second straight Supreme Showman
Wanna talk tradition? Let’s talk tradition for a moment.
When she won the 2019 Putnam County Fair Supreme Showmanship title Thursday evening, Katie Fry made it back-to-back titles for the daughters of Dan and Paula Fry. While multiple sets of siblings have won the title in the past, Grace and Katie Fry are the first to do it in back to back years.
Katie also became the fourth Fry to win the Supreme Showmanship title in its history, joining not only Grace, but also her late grandfather Ralph “1965” and great-uncle Phillip “1973”.
That seems something like a Fry family dynasty.
Add this to the other side of the family — aunt Jenny Merkel Kessler won in 1988 and cousin Haley Kessler Radford won in Montgomery County in 2010 — and you could say that Katie Fry has this showmanship thing in her blood.
Never mind that the Supreme Showman trophy itself is actually designed and built by Phillip and Janice Fry’s JF Awards.
Just don’t fool yourself into thinking this was preordained or easy for Fry.
Her advice to a first-year 4-H’er, the interview question asked of all six contestants Thursday evening, says it all.
“Work as hard as you possibly can,” Fry said. “As long as you are the hardest working person out there, you will always succeed.”
While any wise person will tell you that success isn’t always measured by coming out on top, that’s exactly what Fry did Thursday in topping runner-up Seth Ariens of the dairy barn for the 2019 title.
“This is what can come of working hard,” Fry said.
The other representatives in the competition included Bree Mahoney-Sutherland of goats, Whitney Boswell of horse and pony, Madison Short of sheep and Dalton Scott of swine.
Of course, winning the Supreme Showmanship title always brings out a big crowd to congratulate the winner. However, the last two years, the crowd has seemed just a little bit larger.
While some could attribute this to the sheer size of the Fry family itself, it seems to have a lot more to do with the number of people these girls and their family have touched in their journeys through 4-H.
After Fry was presented with the Supreme Showman trophy, sponsored again this year by the Tom Hendricks family, she probably didn’t touch the oversized award for at least five minutes, choosing instead to give hugs and cry tears of joy with anyone who came her way.
Asked who she wanted to hug the most in the moments after the announcement, Fry said, “my mom and dad, and then my sister Grace.”
And while Fry was aware of how hard she had worked, she admitted to being at least a little surprised when her name was called for champion.
Coming at the end of a grueling week of livestock shows, the Supreme Showmanship competition is no picnic. Having already come out on top of the showmanship competition of their own barns, the competitors must turn around on Thursday and prepare to show four other species of animals against the best showmen the other barns have to offer.
Fortunately for Fry, in seven years of 4-H she’s gotten fairly familiar with all of the types of animals.
“Nothing seemed too new,” she said.
The tradition that Fry is upholding isn’t simply her family, either, as North Putnam has established an impressive dynasty in the event.
The high school sophomore Fry is the seventh straight North Putnam student to win, as well as the 16th in the last 20 years.
Fry said that neither family nor community traditions had her too worried.
“Maybe I felt a little pressure, but not really,” she said.
In the end, Fry was simply feeling grateful that her name gets be etched alongside the names of the 67 other Supreme Showmen hanging in the fairgrounds livestock arena.
“I’m feeling very excited and very blessed,” Fry said. “Excited that I get to have the honor of having my name up there with all those great people.”
Putnam County Supreme Showmanship winners
2019: Katie Fry, Beef
2018: Grace Fry, Sheep
2017: Brynne Shuee, Swine
2016: Jessica Hays, Goat
2015: Nolan Ensor, Swine
2014: Lauren Johnston, Sheep
2013: Preston Porter, Dairy
2012: Emily Gilley, Horse & Pony
2011: Logan Pell, Horse & Pony
2010: Garret Porter, Dairy
2009: Brock Jones, Sheep
2008: Kyle Alcorn, Beef
2007: Dakota Parent, Sheep
2006: Kalen Brattain, Swine
2005: Jordan Berry, Sheep
2004: Neal Knapp, Sheep
2003: Ashley Clifford, Beef
2002: Dustin Thornberg, Swine
2001: Rhonda Gottschalk, Beef
2000: Keri Jackson, Swine
1999: Tiffany Tippin, Beef
1998: Ryan Hendricks, Sheep
1997: Tammy Gottschalk, Swine
1996: Kyleen Jensen, Beef
1995: Paul Hodgen, Beef
1994: Sara Stanley, Beef
1993: Mike Jackson, Swine
1992: Robert Hodgen, Beef
1991: Jim Bowling, Swine
1990: Doug Parent, Beef
1989: Brent Branneman, Swine
1988: Jenny Merkel, Beef
1987: Jenny Jessup, Goat
1986: Jeff Stanley, Sheep
1985: Charles Poynter, Swine
1984: Tony Stanley, Beef
1983: Brian Williams, Beef
1982: Andy Beck, Beef
1981: Brad Davies, Swine
1980: Lisa Sutherlin, Horse & Pony
1979: Jeff Davies, Swine
1978: Jake Zaring, Beef
1977: Gary Williams, Beef
1976: Brad Cash, Dairy
1975: Jerry Torr, Beef
1974: Gordon Smith, Swine
1973: Phillip Fry, Swine
1972: Terry Tippin, Dairy
1971: David Bruner, Sheep
1970: Beverly Hurst, Sheep
1969: Steve Judy, Dairy
1968: Kent Brattain, Swine
1967: Ken Carrington, Beef
1966: Robert New, Sheep
1965: Ralph Fry, Dairy
1964: Keith Carrington, Beef
1963: Bill Judy, Dairy
1962: Noble New, Sheep
1961: Tommy Hendricks, Sheep
1960: Frank Hartman, Beef
1959: Ted Britton, Beef
1958: Neil Irwin, Swine
1957: Byron Gough, Beef
1956: Bowen Akers, Beef
1955: Charles Nicholson, Dairy
1954: Bernie Harris, Sheep
1953: Gordon Whitman, Beef
1952: Ken Torr, Beef