Thatcher Mueller’s Allen County Fair workload has ebbed a bit in recent years.
But he sure hasn’t gotten any less busy.
The 17-year-old will enter animals in the beef and sheep shows this year, hoping to add to the purple ribbon he’s already won for his food entry, a chiffon cake.
On top of that, the City Slickers 4-H’er works this summer at B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt as well as odd jobs for family and friends. (He even covered a friend’s shift at a sno-cone stand.)
In fact, his food project was among the first items judged at Wednesday’s open class session, to allow him time to get to Humboldt before his 4 p.m. shift started at B&W.
“It’s always a little of this, a little of that,” he chuckled.
Alas, with such a crammed schedule, Mueller has had to pull back on his fair participation.
In years past, he was a champion woodworker, and earned piles of purples for his arts and crafts and goat projects.
“But as more things came up, I had to do a bit less for the Fair,” he said.
Mueller is hopeful his animals fare as well as they did in the 2025 Fair, where his lamb was named overall reserve champion.
“You kind of hope that’s the standard now, but every year is a little different,” Mueller said. “But it’s always good to get the experience.”
He’s already shown his animals at spring livestock shows.
“It helps just getting them out and getting used to everything,” he said.
AMID the changes, he is not about to give up on his baking, a skill he’s honed through the years under the tutelage of his mother, Natalie.
“My mom has always baked, and we’d go with her to different events,” he recalled. “She showed us how we could make things.”
He’s grown fond of preparing chiffon cakes, changing up the flavors each time out.
