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2A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, November 30,2022
Teen wins national livestock award with unique beef heifer
By Julia Hansen
jhansen@dawsonnews.com
After attending the North
American International
Livestock Exposition show
in Kentucky earlier this
month, Dawson County
Junior High School eighth
grader Olivia Graham has
gained both agricultural
experience and multiple
accolades.
During the livestock
competition at Louisville’s
Kentucky Exposition
Center, Olivia’s beef heifer,
Holly, was named the
reserve grand champion in
the junior Belted Galloway
category.
In addition to her first
place win, Olivia scored
three other second-place
wins, and she even compet
ed with adults in the open
Belted Galloway section,
too.
Earlier this year, Olivia
was also selected to partici-
pate in the Belted
Galloway Society National
Junior Council Board, an
honor only allocated to six
students in the country.
She’s nurtured her pas-
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sion for cows over the past
several years, helped by
grandparents who own a
small pasture, her parents
and other 4-H mentors.
“Showing cattle is some
thing I can do instead of
something like playing a
sport,” Olivia wrote in a let
ter requesting local spon
sorships before nationals.
“Also, when I was sick
[with cancer], animals were
what helped me feel better.
So, I love spending my
time with them.”
Five years ago, the teen
began showing dairy cows
before switching to an
Angus steer calf for a year.
Meanwhile, she’d always
enjoyed riding by a pasture
of Belted Galloways,
which are not as common
in the southeastern United
States.
“She wanted something
that nobody else had...
something that was a little
bit different and stood out
more. The community is
small, and they’ve been
watching her shows and
her success,” her mother,
Maggie previously said.
Olivia said she was also
drawn to this breed of
cows, nicknamed Belties,
because of their “big and
fluffy” appearance.
Fast forward to Olivia’s
November competition,
where she described being
enthralled by the “magni
tude of the atmosphere”
and the biggest show ring,
which was between three
and four times the size to
which she’s usually accus
tomed.
With the large arena and
what Olivia called “tough
competition,” it took all of
her family being in the
right place to help guide
her as she and Heifer pre
pared for the show.
During the show, judges
asked multiple questions
about genetics and feed,
something for which Olivia
said she’d prepared.
Since purchasing her first
cows Holly and Hazel,
Olivia has been a member
of the Junior Belted
Galloway Society. Their
junior program provides
resources related to genet
ics, such as straws for her
to artificially inseminate
her heifers.
Through those efforts,
Hazel became pregnant and
gave birth to a bull calf
named Duke in October,
Olivia said.
“I liked meeting new
people,” she added of her
overall experience. “Since
Belted Galloways are in the
northern part of the coun
try, I met a lot of people
from Maine and Rhode
Island.”
She’s ever mindful of
how Dawson-area locals
helped her get to Kentucky.
After word spread about
Olivia’s sponsorship letter
and national goals, Maggie
elaborated that “quite a few
sponsors” took money to
the 4-H office, helping her
daughter raise about $2,000
toward going to the live
stock show.
“Thank you, everyone
who helped me get to
where I did,” Olivia said.
Her family went with her
to nationals more for the
experience and not neces
sarily expecting awards, so
they’re ecstatic.
“It’s a huge sense of
pride for dad and I both,”
Maggie said. “We took her
to Kentucky about four
years ago right when she
started showing cows...
She had told us that ‘I’ll
show on the green shavings
[in Louisville].”’
They didn’t doubt that
Olivia would, but Maggie
said they didn’t realize
“how driven she was and
how quick she’d make it
happen.”
It’s with that same sense
of drive that Olivia aspires
to become a large animal
veterinarian for her future
career.
After getting home from
nationals, she’s preparing
for a few shows in
December and then a
stacked competition sched
ule through January and
February, tapering off in
March.
Meanwhile, Olivia con
tinues to diligently handle
the daily ins-and-outs of
owning livestock.
In this case, that meant
feeding her cows at the end
of the interview, a job her
mother called “a 24/7/365”
kind of deal.
Dawson Humane Society holding donation drive
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
As we all head into the
holiday season, the
Dawson County Humane
Society is providing a way
for community members to
provide pets in the shelter
with a merry Christmas.
According to a release by
the local nonprofit, people
in the Dawsonville area can
support the shelter and help
pets in need by dropping
donations off in any of the
several “Presents 4 Paws”
collection boxes that are set
up at businesses throughout
the community.
“We are grateful to the
businesses that are helping
with this effort by allowing
our Humane Society to
place a drop box at their
location,” Board President
Tim Smock said in the
release. “We truly appreci
ate their participation and
support. To date we have
16 local businesses where
items on our wish list can
be dropped off. I would
also like to thank all our
supporters who help by
donating the needed items.”
Currently, collection
boxes in the community are
set up at the following busi
nesses:
• All Animals Veterinary
Hospital
• Tru Value Hardware
• Pak Mail
• Coastal State Bank
• Miller’s Ale House
• BenchMark Physical
Therapy
• Thompson Creek
Animal Hospital
• Bank OZK
• Humane Society Resale
Shop and Boutique
• PetSmart
• Petco
• Papa’s Place
• Dawsonville Veterinary
Hospital
• Tractor Supply
• John Megel Chevrolet
• Dawsonville Library
Some of the items cur
rently on the organization’s
wish list include:
• Clay cat litter
• Dry dog food
• Dry puppy food
• Dry cat food
• Dry kitten food
• Mr. Clean
• Bleach
• Flea topical
• Blue Dawn dish soap
• Liquid laundry soap
• Contractor 3-ply black
trash bags
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
• Blue nitrile exam gloves
• Cash donations
For more information
about the holiday drive and
the Dawson County
Humane Society, go to
dawsoncountyhumanesoci-
ety.org or call the shelter at
706-265-9160.
OBITS
Obituaries
Murrell Estelle
Bearden
November 19, 2022
Mrs. Murrell Estelle
Bearden, age 98, of
Dahlonega, Georgia,
passed away on Saturday,
November 19, 2022. She
was born in Gilmer County
on August 19, 1924, to the
late Casper Southern and
the late Jeanette Lowman
Simmons. Mrs. Bearden
will forever be remembered
as a wonderful mother and
the best friend that anyone
could imagine. She had the
perfect personality and
would stick by your side no
matter if you were right or
wrong. She would be the
first to tell you how it is, but
she would be by your side
nonetheless. Mrs. Bearden
loved to crochet and was
passionate about reading.
In addition to her par
ents, she is preceded in
death by her loving hus
band, Masteen Bearden;
brothers Preston Southern,
Harold Southern and
Junior Simmons; daughter
Sharon Knight; grandson
Ben Nix and great grand
children Jeremy Wehunt
and Harper Sabater.
She is survived by her
children, Nell (Terrell)
Holtzclaw, Pat Brackett,
Charlotte (Melvin) Bryant,
Ray (Nell) Bearden and
Nancy (Russell) Cochran
all of Dahlonega; brothers
Robert Simmons and
Albert (Sue) Simmons.
Numerous nieces, neph
ews, friends and other rela
tives also survive.
Funeral Services are
scheduled for Wednesday,
November 23, 2022 at
2:00PM in the chapel of
Anderson-Underwood
Funeral Home. Interment
will follow in the cemetery
of New Hope Baptist
Church in Dawsonville. The
family will receive friends at
the funeral home on
Tuesday, November 22,
2022 from 5:00PM -
8:00PM.
Death Notices
Brenda Sue Dean
November 21, 2022
Brenda Sue Dean, 76, of
Dawsonville died Monday,
November 21st. Funeral
service, Saturday,
November 26, 2022, 1
o’clock, Mill Creek Baptist
Church. Bearden Funeral
Home, Dawsonville, GA.
Renna Elaine
Jordan
November 19, 2022
Renna Elaine Jordan,
59, of Dawsonville died
Saturday, November 19th.
Funeral, Wednesday,
November 23,rd at 2:00
p.m., Bearden Funeral
Home Chapel.
^ Daws o n C o u nty N e ws
A Metro Market Media Publication
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