Here is something that I wrote up about Denny quite a while ago:
I came across a photo of me from the Washington Evening Journal, which is the most wholesome-looking picture of me in existence. I am young, with a winning smile, a 4-H shirt, and am leaning on one of my 4-H pigs. It brought back good memories. I had just won the Washington County 1967 Swine Showmanship Championship at the county fair. My good other-farm-kid friend, Denny Marek, had won the award the previous year and I had kidded him quite a bit about the honor and the trophy with the golden pig on top of it. He speculated that I was just being jealous and said that it was his goal to "coach me up" so I could win the award the following year. We laughed about it but then the following day, he brought in the "Top 10 Tips for Winning the Washington County Fair Swine Showmanship Championship". The tips were all sort of funny, toungue-in-cheek things like 1) Wear a 4-H tee shirt, so you look adequately patriotic; 2) Carry a brush in your back, left jeans pocket but don't use it under any circumstances; 3) Master the "earnest, yet above the fray" look and the judge will subconsciously register that you are somehow better than the others... etc...I kept the list and the following summer we had fun dutifully preparing, following the recipe to the finest detail. Lo and behold, I ended up winning, no small deal given there were maybe 100 other exhibitors (this is hog country, after all). I remember going back to the hog barn with my big trophy with the shiny gold pig on top, and laughing uncontrollably with Denny as we made plans to open up a swine showmanship school. Denny passed away way too young (he was 26 or 27 I think) but I think of him often and the great small town times that we shared.
Stephen Wolfer
Constantly missed.
Phillip McConnell
Here is something that I wrote up about Denny quite a while ago:
I came across a photo of me from the Washington Evening Journal, which is the most wholesome-looking picture of me in existence. I am young, with a winning smile, a 4-H shirt, and am leaning on one of my 4-H pigs. It brought back good memories. I had just won the Washington County 1967 Swine Showmanship Championship at the county fair. My good other-farm-kid friend, Denny Marek, had won the award the previous year and I had kidded him quite a bit about the honor and the trophy with the golden pig on top of it. He speculated that I was just being jealous and said that it was his goal to "coach me up" so I could win the award the following year. We laughed about it but then the following day, he brought in the "Top 10 Tips for Winning the Washington County Fair Swine Showmanship Championship". The tips were all sort of funny, toungue-in-cheek things like 1) Wear a 4-H tee shirt, so you look adequately patriotic; 2) Carry a brush in your back, left jeans pocket but don't use it under any circumstances; 3) Master the "earnest, yet above the fray" look and the judge will subconsciously register that you are somehow better than the others... etc...I kept the list and the following summer we had fun dutifully preparing, following the recipe to the finest detail. Lo and behold, I ended up winning, no small deal given there were maybe 100 other exhibitors (this is hog country, after all). I remember going back to the hog barn with my big trophy with the shiny gold pig on top, and laughing uncontrollably with Denny as we made plans to open up a swine showmanship school. Denny passed away way too young (he was 26 or 27 I think) but I think of him often and the great small town times that we shared.