The winners in the 2017 4-H market steer show at the Dickinson County Fair are Mackenzie Heimerl, left, with grand champion Big E, and Caroline Taylor, right, with reserve champion Champ. Both Heimerl and Taylor are from Breitung Township and attend Kingsford High School. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News Photo)

NORWAY — Big E got the big prize Friday at the Dickinson County Fair.

The Angus cross was named grand champion market steer in the 4-H youth show, besting about a dozen other entries.

The win gave 16-year-old Mackenzie Heimerl back-to-back years of placing in the market beef competition, after winning reserve in 2016.

While confident she had her steer in the best shape possible, the Merriman teen was far from confident about her chances after seeing the competition. So when the judge gave her the nod, “I was so happy. I was smiling a lot. There’s a lot of really nice steers here.”

Big E came to Heimerl at last year’s fair from Dan Ehnis of Vulcan and was different from the previous two steers she’d raised for the show. “He was very spooky,” Heimerl explained. “So I definitely had to work with him a lot more.”

That meant daily walks to build muscle and regular baths, including two hours of washing, blow drying and other styling Friday morning leading up to the show, she said.

The work obviously paid off — “he’s a love bug,” Heimerl said — though Big E was not on his best behavior in his new surroundings Thursday evening. “He was a little sassy last night, a little skittish,” she said.

Caroline Taylor, 15, also of Breitung Township, took the reserve champion spot with Champ, an Angus-Maine-Anjou cross. It was her first time in the top two after four years of showing steers, she said.

Like Heimerl, Taylor got Champ a year ago at the end of the 2016 fair. And like Heimerl, Taylor would take her young steer for exercise walks, in her case up and down Haystack View Drive. Neighbors regularly would come out to pet the growing but gentle animal.

Taylor shared one secret for preparing a prize steer: Shaving cream, which makes the hair stand out so the steer looks more filled out and framed up.

But Taylor credits his filled-out legs and butt for giving Champ an edge, even though he proved “pushy” in the show ring, “but he pulled through.”

“The judges liked how he was finished,” Heimerl’s friend Andrew Strohm said of Big E’s win.

Both teens attend Kingsford High School — they are friends as well — and said they long have had an interest in animals. Heimerl works at Waucedah Hill Farm in Vulcan, while Taylor’s family has a hobby farm that allows her to also show goats and hogs.

And both admit it will be difficult to say goodbye to their winning steers at the auction sale today.

“I’ll probably be pretty emotional. I got pretty attached,” Taylor said. “But I know that’s what they’re for, that’s what I’ve been working over a year for.”

Heimerl is the daughter of Heather and Jim Heimerl. Taylor’s parents are Phil and Carol Taylor.

Fair fun continues today with carnival rides, pony and draft horse pulls, the youth livestock auction, and a free country music concert.

The fair runs through Labor Day at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds on U.S. 8 south of Norway.

SATURDAY

Agriculture Day

9 a.m.: Open horse show

10 a.m.: Poultry and rabbit judging

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The Home Depot Kid’s Building Workshop, exhibition building

11 a.m.: Dairy judging

11 a.m. to close: Carnival opens

11 a.m. to close: Exhibition building open

11 a.m.: Pony Pulls and Open Draft Horse Pulls

Noon to 6 p.m.: Paula D, Wally Bouchey Pavilion

1 p.m.: Horseshoes pitch singles and doubles

1, 3 and 6 p.m.: Log roller demonstrations

1 to 10 p.m.: Bingo

2 to 4 p.m.: Dinosaur and hypnotist performances

4 p.m.: Youth livestock auction; market buyer’s appreciation dinner to follow

6 to 11 p.m.: Free country music concert featuring Runaway Train and 141 North; 50/50 drawing during event

SUNDAY

Race Day

9 a.m.: Youth horse show

11 a.m. to close: Carnival opens

11 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Exhibition building open

11 a.m.: Registration for annual Fair Fun Dog Show; judging at 1 p.m.

Noon to 6 p.m.: Paula D, Wally Bouchey Pavilion

1 to 10 p.m.: Bingo

2 p.m.: Horse speed events

2 to 4 p.m.: Dinosaur and hypnotist performances

6 p.m.: Labor Day 100 Race, organized by the Dickinson County Race Association

MONDAY

Senior Day

8 a.m.: Dickinson County 4-H Council Fun Horse Show registration, with show at 9 a.m.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Paula D, Wally Bouchey Pavilion

11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Carnival opens, rides $1 each fair special

TBD: Go Karts

1 to 5 p.m.: Bingo

2 to 4 p.m.: Dinosaur and hypnotist performance

5 p.m.: Exhibits released

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 40, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.