Ruzicka, Naig and Chance represent Floyd County at charity steer show

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Charles City High School sophomore Delaney Ruzicka, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and a steer named Chance proved to be quite a team on Saturday.

The trio represented Floyd County at the 38th annual Iowa Governor’s Charity Steer Show. The event raised more than $254,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Iowa. Ruzicka, Chance and Naig were responsible for $7,250 of that, as Chance was bought by Friends of Floyd County.

The show and auction, which were held at Iowa State University, are an annual fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald Houses in Des Moines, Iowa City and Sioux City. The houses are located near hospitals and provide a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children.

The Iowa Beef Industry Council and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association sponsor the annual steer show and auction.

Ruzicka is 15 and has been showing cattle since second grade, and this was her first time in attendance at the show.

Chance was born in 2019 and is a little over a year old. He was Ruzicka’s younger brother’s show calf and placed at the Floyd County Fair, winning first place in showmanship. She said her brother is too young to show at the governor’s show, so the honor became hers.

“I’ve been around it my entire life,” Ruzicka said. “When I was little, my grandpa had cattle and he kept them at our house, so I’ve grown up around cattle. My brothers and I would be with our grandpa while he did chores.”

Ruzicka’s father, John, called the event an “awesome experience” and expressed special thanks to Matt and Tina Meier Hoeft and Terry and Tammy Wicks for “organizing and supporting all the kids who come down to the show every year.” He also thanked Olivia Staudt and for helping Delaney and Chance.

“It was an honor to represent Floyd County and to have met Mike Naig, the Iowa secretary of ag, and to have him be such a big supporter for Floyd County and all of Iowa,” John Ruzicka said in a social media post on Saturday.

He also thanked “everyone who has shown Delaney so much support through donations and with all the Likes and Shares you all have given her the past few days.”

Floyd County has had at least one representative at the annual show since 2006. Charles City’s Bronson Forsyth earned a top-five finish with his steer, DMACC Delivers, in the 2019 show.

Dillan Dight, from Rockford, and his steer Rocky were also representatives last year. Alec Staudt, also from Rockford, won the top prize for showmanship with his steer, Bugs, in 2018 and Jayden Jorgenson of Rudd earned the purple ribbon with his steer, Hershey, at the 2017 charity show.

Since its inception in 1983, the Governor’s Charity Steer Show has raised more than $4.1 million for the Ronald McDonald Houses of Iowa. This year’s event included 23 steers, the Iowa youth who raised them and celebrity show persons.

Gov. Kim Reynolds was expected to participate, but storm relief efforts after last week’s derecho kept her from the show. Her husband, Kevin Reynolds, showed in her place, taking home Grand Champion honors with the steer raised by Tyson Von Glan of Vail. Reynolds’s steer was chosen by judge Chad Holtkamp of West Point.

Dan Thomson, chair of the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University, served as the showmanship judge. Thomson chose celebrity Mike McDonough of Oelwein, who showed a steer raised by Ethan Thimmes from Mechanicsville. McDonough’s family utilized the services of three different Ronald McDonald House Charities this spring when Mike faced an extreme health challenge related to his epilepsy.

The steer raised by Rylie Timm and shown by Tate Schafer and Boone Myers was chosen by voters on Facebook as People’s Choice. Tate has a rare brain tumor, but celebrated his 30th birthday and 20 months post-diagnosis earlier in August.