Miller Family earns Eagle Bowl
The Miller family earned their reputation for good sportsmanship not only from their hard work and completing tasks, but also by teaching their skills to others.
It's all of those qualities that made the Millers this year's choice as the 2018 Eagle Bowl winners.
The Eagle Bowl is awarded to a family who competes with various entries and show sportsmanship and volunteerism that is on par with the quality of their work.
Brian and Stacy Miller have three sons, Tyler, 20, Austin, 15, and Garrett, 12. All said they were honored to be this year's recipients of the award.
Garrett said the Eagle Bowl is something past generations of Millers achieved, and he is excited his family has earned the same recognition.
“I think it's really cool because it's something we've been trying to get for a long time,” he said.
Stacy Miller said the family helped set up pens, Austin hosed the sales ring down and Garrett helped set up the sales ring for Thursday night's auction.
The family also brought some animals and other entries to this year's farm show. Austin showed a heifer, a cow calf, a steer and four lambs; Garrett showed two goats, a lamb, a steer, a cow calf and a heifer; Tyler showed a cow calf and entered drawing for display; Brian showed their crops; and Stacy entered a photograph for display.
“They all have to work to get their projects together. It's a yearlong cycle that they start back many months before,” Brian Miller said. “We're all continuously working toward having that stuff ready and being prepared to come here.”
Stacy Miller said the Eagle Bowl award shows how well their family works as a unit.
“As a family at home, we work together pretty much all the time,” she said. “This is a product of our labor.”
But the family doesn't just focus on the competition, according to Austin.
“I like to come and help people. I find it fun,” Austin said. “Sometimes you've got to help other people show, and I enjoy that too.”
Stacy said the family also likes to lead by example and educate anyone who asks for their advice or input. She said the morning before the Eagle Bowl announcement, she got a chance to enlighten a little girl who wanted to learn more about cows.
“We get to teach people about agriculture,” she said. “I picked the little girl up, and she pet the little calf,” she said. “It was teaching her about the cows. We like to teach people about what we do.”
Tyler Miller said the family also recognizes that they could always learn new things too, and the farm show is the best way to surround yourself with other skilled farmers.
“I like to come here because it's educational,” Tyler Miller said. “You get to see old friends and make new friends. It's just a fun experience.”
Brian Miller said knowledge is what makes the farm show a continued success year after year, generation after generation.
“I'm kind of communicating with the older and the younger generation, and I'm seeing members from when I was back in 4-H back here also and looking back on it, the people we helped then and how we still help them now and how we still all communicate,” Brian Miller said.
Brian Miller said he and his family want to be part of the farm show's tradition of sportsmanship and community. He said proof of that tradition comes from seeing all the young faces hard at work, having fun and learning new things.
“The kids are coming back also and generations down the road,” Miller said. “It's good to see that it continues on in the same respect.”
