Grand, reserve championships earned by one 13-year-old 

By CAROLYN ROST | South Central Texas Edition

Show judge Keith Scott shares his reasons for selecting Matthew Hosek’s hen as the first place winner. The hen was later named Grand Champion of the turkey show. Matthew (right) is helped in the show ring by his friend Josh Boenker. Later, Matthew’s tom turkey was named Reserve Champion. -- Staff photo by Rost

Feb. 9, 2006 - An exhibitor’s first grand champion win is a grand occassion not soon forgotten. An even more unforgettable feat is taking home both grand and reserve champion honors in a single show.

Matthew Hosek, at age 13, did just that at the recent Wilson County Junior Livestock Show.

What makes this extra special for Matthew is the fact that this was his first turkey show to compete in and the first double for the Wilson County show’s turkey division.

According to Bernor Bippert, director of the Wilson County Junior Livestock Show for approximately the past 10 years, this is the first time he can recall that the same exhibitor won both grand and reserve in the turkey show since the competition was added into the show in 1966.

�As far as I know, we had probably a double (championship) in broilers before,� said Bippert, when asked about the history of the poultry division.

�I�ve been with the show since �64 and when I came here they didn�t even have an auction for the kids. All they did was bring them in, give them a ribbon, and send them home. I think it took us (until) about �65 or �66 to get a full auction for them (in) an old Stockyard Union pen we had down here for an auction,� added Bippert.

Bippert moved to Floresville in 1964 and served as the county’s Extension agent for 22 years before retiring in 1986.

A double was also garnered this year in the market lamb division by Joslyn Kotzur with the Wood Valley 4-H. According to Bippert, Kotzur has pretty well dominated the sheep show.

Matthew hopes to dominate the turkey show in the coming years. 

This year’s outcome was a grand start for a kid that had to be coaxed into raising turkeys.

According to his mother, Roni, his uncle (Kevin Sells) talked both Matthew and his sister, Harmony, 18, into showing an animal project.

�My brother wanted them to have the experience of showing; and I showed when I was young,� said Roni.

Apparently, Roni had two good reasons for getting her kids into raising turkeys.

�He (Kevin) thought this would be a very good experience for both of them, and I wanted a barn and he said he�d build it but (the kids would) have to show.� So last summer, the barn was built; and this year, Matthew and Harmony exhibited their birds.

Although Harmony is a senior this year, this was also her first year to raise and show turkeys. She placed third in the hen show. Both she and Matthew found out raising turkeys takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

�You have to be willing and able to wake up very early in the morning before school starts to go feed and water them and make sure everyone�s okay,� she said.

According to Harmony, there are many challenges and hard-learned lessons in raising turkeys.

�You have to be prepared to face whatever comes to you, especially since we had a lot of turkeys eating each other in the very beginning. We were afraid we were not going to have a good year.�

Living out in the country means dealing with other creatures intent on getting an easy meal. The Hoseks had to build a hot-wire fence and other special accommodations to keep snakes, raccoons, cats and dogs from eating the poults. The temperature in the barn also has to be closely monitored.

�You have to know what the right temperatures are for their moods. You have to have lights on them if it�s too cold and open up the windows on the side if it�s too hot,� said Harmony.

Matthew said he enjoyed working with the turkeys and spent a lot of time out in the barn taking care of them.

�He�s our little fixer when the water went out,� said his mother.

When asked what she thought about Matthew’s first year showing turkeys, Roni chuckled and said, “I think this is fantastic. I never would have expected it.”

After garnering both grand and reserve champion wins, Matthew’s exhibiting experience can’t get much better but Roni has prepared him for that.

�We told him that this doesn�t happen all the time ... we had a little beginner�s luck. We hope to finish out the year maybe just placing,� Roni laughingly said.