The Little International royalty and management team includes manager Jade Koski, princess Josi Solsaa, queen Kylie Hildre, princess Kristin Schaaf and assistant manager Kell Helmuth.
The NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club is scheduled to host the 97th Little International on Feb. 10-11.
“The Little International livestock show is the largest student-run event on the NDSU campus, involving more than 300 students,” said Jade Koski, Little I manager and NDSU senior in animal sciences from Wing, North Dakota. “The show features showmanship classes of beef, dairy, sheep and swine as well as ham curing and public speaking contests. This year, we will also be adding goats to our list of showmanship classes.”
The Little I’s theme this year is “Leaving a Legacy.”
The Agriculturists of the Year are Dean and Paula Swenson of Walcott, North Dakota. The Swensons are set to be recognized at the Feb. 10 Hall of Fame Banquet at the Sanctuary Events Center.
The Saddle and Sirloin Club also selects three women to represent the organization as Little I Royalty. This year’s queen is senior nursing major Kylie Hildre of Velva, North Dakota. Princesses are junior animal science major Josi Solsaa of Watertown, South Dakota, and senior accounting major Kristin Schaff of Glen Ullin, North Dakota. The Little I management team includes Koski and Kell Helmuth, a junior microbiology major from Watford City, North Dakota.
Attendees of the Feb. 11 show can participate in the Ham Curing Auction, a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction.
Livestock showmanship preliminaries begin Feb. 11 at 8 a.m. in NDSU’s Shepperd Arena. Showmanship finals begin at 5 p.m.
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