After she sold her steer at the Montgomery County Fair Junior Livestock Auction on July 21 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds Youth Arena, Malerie Schutt had mixed emotions.

The member of the Big Spring Busy Beavers 4-H club was sad that it was the last livestock auction she participated in.

“It’s kind of rough for me,” Schutt said. “I put a lot of hard work into it. It’s something I take a lot of pride in. Seeing it end is pretty sad.”

But she was thrilled that this year’s auction was a successful one. It generated $366,470 in gross receipts, surpassing the old mark of $365,800 that was set last year.

“I had a fun time with this being my last year,” said Schutt, who graduated from Hermann High School in May. “The auction night is always a fun time to see all of the supporters who come out and support the youth. It’s really nice to be in the ring with your animals and see all of the support.”

Fair board secretary Chasity Lichtenberg said she was happy with the support at the auction, which lasted about four hours.

“These kids work so hard to get their animals ready for the fair each year and the supporters of the fair and the livestock auction are absolutely amazing,” Lichtenberg said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better community.”

A total of 77 hogs were sold, more than any other animal. There were also 28 steers and 33 rabbits sold.

“We are excited that our livestock program keeps growing,” Lichtenberg said. “The steer show has really grown over the last five or so years. This year, our barns were full. We hope that we can keep expanding. We have some exciting new changes planned for next year, which will make initial and fair weigh-ins a lot smoother. We can’t wait until we get that project started.”

Annie Robinson, who earned Reserve Champion honors for her hog, said she was pleased with the large turnout at the auction.

“They’re always supportive,” said Robinson, who also participated in her last auction. “They come out and purchase the animals that we worked with all summer. It’s a good end to the fair. It’s a reward for your hard work.”

Olivia Spurgeon didn’t get grand champion steer honors for the second year in a row as her steer, which is named Blueberry, finished fourth. Still, the Montgomery City resident was ecstatic about celebrating her 13th birthday by winning the on-hoof title at the steer show the day before.

“When you win one class and you get to go in ad compete with all of these amazing steers, it feels like you really accomplished something just being able to go in there,” Spurgeon said.

Besides Schutt, Ray Poston (hog), Lukas Oliver (goat), Logan Camp (ham), Lucy Ann Politsch (chicken), Lilly Korman (sheep) and Kyndall Groeber (rabbit) also won Grand Champion awards. The other Reserve Champions were Kenley Wessel (goat), Rebecca Schulze (ham), Braden Schutt (steer), Chase McCurdy (chicken), Mylee Hans (sheep) and Liam Wilkinson (rabbit). A total of 165 animals were sold.

Schutt said she was amazed to see a lot of participants from all over the area at the auction.

“The great thing with the Montgomery County Fair is there are kids from Montgomery, Hermann, Bellflower and Jonesburg,” Schutt said. “There are kids from everywhere. With those kids coming in here, there will be a lot of supporters from the area. When they continue to come and they see the kids working hard and getting their projects going, they’ll support even more. They’re very loyal customers to all of us and they appreciate what we’re doing. More than half of them were in our shoes at one point in their lives, too.”