I wanted to share Reba’s poem, with her pictured above this article. This poem perfectly captures how much we love and miss Donnie.

Our Angel in the show ring

I still haven’t recovered from the Lyon County Fair and there are a lot of things to reflect on from the fair.

The Minneota 4-H kids really strutted their stuff at the fair and made sure many ribbons made it back home. It was a really nice fair overall.

There were a few ups and downs though. Throughout the fair preparations, it has felt like something has been missing. The big burst of energy that our “show team family” has always had was missing.

Even though we felt like someone was missing, we all knew that he was with us, especially Josh and Logan, just in a new, different way. It just took some careful listening and watching.

Over the past couple of weeks, while Logan and Josh worked with their animals, for a moment you could have sworn it was Donnie. Josh and Logan have the same knack for the art of showing that Donnie had. It’s been a real honor helping them with their calves Liv and Nora.

On Friday morning as we were preparing the dairy cows for their show, my brother Gared was a bit of a nervous wreck. As the County 4-H Federation President and a close friend of Donnie’s, he was asked to give a speech discussing Lyon County’s newest and brightest bench.

He didn’t know what to say. All he knew was that it needed to be just right. We told him to speak from the heart.

My mom wrote a beautiful poem from the perspective of Reba, one of Donnie’s 4-H cows.

We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to display her poem. It needed to be just right. She spent a lot time writing it because she wanted it to be perfect.

She had a nice banner made that the Minneota 4-H delegation will also be taking to the state fair next week. Nearly every person that walked through the dairy barn at the fair stopped to read it and hopefully they caught a glimpse of the amazing young man Donnie was.

It was difficult to watch Gared and all the kids standing in the show ring doing their best to honor their friend and his family.

I don’t know how he did it, but Gared did an amazing job and made it through his speech while there wasn’t a dry eye in the arena.

As soon as Gared was done, he turned around and gave our brother Grady a big hug.

Gared, your family is so proud of the speech you gave to honor your friend. It was absolutely perfect. Over the fair week, everyone expressed their grief in different ways.

There have been many things that have united them like tee shirts, wristbands, the banner, the bench and just sharing memories.

A lot of stories, smiles and laughter were shared about Donnie during the past few weeks.

As the state fair draws near, many 4-H friends from near and far have also shared their stories too.  I wanted to share Reba’s poem, with her pictured above this article. This poem perfectly captures how much we love and miss Donnie.

I will stand here By the gate

For my Showman

I will wait

The many hours

Together we had

Practicing our art

Wasn’t all so bad

Many ribbons Together we won

A trip to the cities With you was fun!

We all knew your mom Was your biggest fan

Oh how she loved To watch her fine young man

One early Sunday morning

When the sky was black God and the Angels decided To take you back

I can’t tell you how much This has broke my heart

Your family and friends world

Has been torn apart

I can’t wait to meet again

At the show ring in the sky

Until then, in Heaven

Fly High, Donnie, Fly High!!

Brittany Moorse

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