Twelve-year-old Callie Smith sits on top of the wire pen where her black-and-white pig, Double Stuff, is resting. She is just a few hours from selling Double Stuff in the Hillsborough County Fair’s Swine Sale, an event that she and her family have been preparing for since June.
Double Stuff was first brought to the Smith home this summer, when the Hampshire barrow hog was 75 pounds.
On Saturday, Oct. 24, he weighed in at a whopping 232 pounds. Until the sale, he had steadily been gaining 2.5 pounds per day.
Callie is focused on spending time with Double Stuff before they are separated forever.
“You see it every day,” Callie said. “It’s like a dog, it’s like your best friend.” Callie takes a deep breath and presses on. “I won’t cry a lot because I know he’s going to a better place.”
Double Stuff hasn’t been the only thing growing for the past four months. The bond between him and Callie has also gotten stronger.
Every morning, Callie has awakened with the sunrise to feed Double Stuff four scoops of feed before going to class at Tomlin Middle School. And every afternoon, after cheerleading practice, she has come home to walk and work Double Stuff for 30 to 40 minutes.
All her effort is about to culminate in a three-minute walk around the ring.
SHOWTIME
The show starts promptly at 7:15 p.m. There are about 15 contenders before Callie and Double Stuff take to the ring. She bursts forward with confidence and poise. One hand is folded behind her back while the other is using a show stick to prod Double Stuff in a circle under the pavilion-covered arena.
Double Stuff is the opposite of Fatso, the pig Callie showed last year. Fatso was a pain in the butt, says Callie’s stepdad, Donnie Newman. It didn’t help that Callie only had two days to form a relationship with Fatso, after she stepped into an open position as a handler.
But Double Stuff and Callie have chemistry. It’s that connection that helped them win third in the Swine Show the night before and get a call back for showmanship.
“I’m nervous that he’s going to get out there and goof around because he’s never been in a pen with a lot of pigs,” Callie said before the Swine Show Thursday, Oct. 22.
In the ring tonight, the worries that she had voiced earlier in the week were gone.
The bidding begins at $1.
It rises: $1.50, $2, $2.50.
Sold!
Astin Farms takes Double Stuff for $3 per pound.
That’s $696 total for Double Stuff.
Callie will be giving a portion of the money back to Newman, who helped Callie care for Double Stuff. The feed for Double Stuff cost $25 per bag alone.
“It’s a full-time job, if you do it right,” Newman said. “It’s an investment, pretty much … teaching them to be responsible at a young age.”
With the rest of her winnings, she’ll be going to sales that are more common for most 12-year-olds: the ones at the mall.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.
THE WINNERS
Grand Champion
Plant City FFA chapter hog shown by Keylee Christie
Sold: $26 per pound
Buyer: Southside Stores and Weeping Creek Farms
Reserve Grand Champion
J.G. Smith FFA chapter hog shown by Jake Stines
Sold: $10 per pound
Buyer: Astin Farms
Senior Showmanship
Jacob Burnett, Durant Sr. FFA chapter
Intermediate Showmanship
Marissa Zolna, Marshall FFA chapter
Junior Showmanship
Chance Christie, Antioch Critters 4-H