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Bryson Cartwright, 11, poses alongside his one-and-a-half-year-old, 1,469-pound market steer Sparkee at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds in Wapakoneta.
WAPAKONETA - Bryson Cartwright, 11, and his one-and-a-half-year-old, 1,469-pound market steer Sparkee are pulling double duty this week.
In addition to appearing at the 174th Auglaize County Fair, the duo will head to Columbus on Wednesday to take part in the Ronald McDonald House Celebrity Steer Show at the Ohio State Fair to raise awareness and funding for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio.
Bryson, the son of Shelby and Mason Cartwright of Wapakoneta, caught the attention of organizers while participating in Beef Exhibitor Show Total (BEST), a youth program of the Ohio Cattlemen's Association, according to Shelby.
"He shows in a circuit throughout the winter, and the people that put on that circuit, they choose kids based off of their sportsmanship and their character and how they treat other kids in the ring," she explained. "They only pick 10 kids out of 800."
The steer show is an annual event coordinated by RMHC, Telhio Credit Union, Ohio Cattlemen's Association and the Ohio State Fair.
Team Electric Sparkee, presented by American Electric Power Company, Columbus, consists of Bryson; Sparkee; Dan Mueller, the senior vice president of tax at AEP; and Rodney Dunigan, the evening managing editor/anchor at WSYX ABC 6.
During the celebrity steer show, there will be a sale following the same procedures as a typical livestock sale, but without the actual transfer of livestock, according to a news release. Instead, all buyer sale proceeds will benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children.
The public can donate to Team Electric Sparkee at justgiving.com/campaign/rmhc2026-css26-team1.
"I feel happy that I'm able to help other people," Bryson told The Daily Standard. "I just feel like that's a really good thing to help other people and let them know that you care about them."
Bryson Cartwright, 11, grooms Sparkee to prepare him for a show at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds in Wapakoneta.
His parents were equally excited to learn their son was named a participant in the celebrity steer show.
"It's overwhelming. It's difficult to put into words how much that means that he gets to help so many families that we'll never meet," Shelby said. "I was so happy to do it and support that."
"That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you can't pass something like that up, especially for the cause that it is supporting," Mason added. "We're very happy about it. We're proud of him for doing the work that he did and for them to notice that."
This also happens to be the last week that Bryson and Sparkee, a good-natured, docile creature with a fondness for Chips Ahoy cookies, will spend together. Sparkee will be sold at the fair this week. Bryson is a third-year member of the Auglaize County Show Stoppers 4-H Club.
"A lot of mixed feelings," Bryson said when asked how he's feeling. "I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm kind of sad because I have to go there, do such a big competition with him and then I'll have to load him on a trailer on Saturday and say goodbye."
Shelby echoed those sentiments.
"It's a bittersweet feeling knowing that you gave them the absolute best life possible and being able to provide quality products to the community," she said. "But it comes at a cost to the people that loved him."
Bryson Cartwright, 11, poses alongside his one-and-a-half-year-old, 1,469-pound market steer Sparkee at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds in Wapakoneta.
Sparkee was born and raised on Bryson's grandparents' farm. Jay and Stephanie Fisher raise cattle, produce grain and operate a commercial hog operation.
Bryson bonded with the calf immediately.
"We have a pretty good connection," Bryson said, adding that he began preparing Sparkee for showings two weeks after the calf was born. "It just involves hard work and dedication."
Bryson has since taken Sparkee on the BEST circuit and to the Auglaize County Fair for two years in a row. Sparkee competes best in the showmanship category, Bryson said.
"He walks good. He's big. He has a good mindset to do whatever he's trying to do," Bryson said. "He's a good show steer."
He usually feeds Sparkee 30 pounds of grain a day and is responsible for the animal's upkeep.
"Washing him, rinsing him … practicing like we're in the show ring," Bryson said when asked about a typical day of caring for Sparkee.
Shelby and Mason witnessed their son mature beyond his years while raising Sparkee and other steers.
"Watching him throughout the years and watching how much he's learned and absorbed and how much more he can do himself now - and it's a bittersweet feeling," Shelby said. "From kind of him being dependent on us to helping, and now he's created his own interest. And there's so many different avenues that he can choose to be a part of in the beef community. And he loves the fitting and the clipping portion of it. He's so eager to learn about that, and watching him want to develop and learn, I love that. We had no idea where this journey was going to take us, and I never expected it to be here so soon."
Bryson is ambivalent about whether he has truly reached celebrity status, pointing out he did get some recognition from his peers during Sunday night's open show at the Auglaize County Fair.
"Kind of and kind of not," he said about the "celebrity" status. "I did my classes and I got second both times, and everybody's walking up to me and saying, 'Congratulations, congratulations.' So it kind of makes me feel important, but at the same time, I'm not really a celebrity."
