When Kashen Ellerbrock encounters the predictable question, “So, what did you do this summer?” he has quite a story to tell classmates and teachers at Kewanee High School. In the audio clip below, 16-year-old Kashen tells WGN’s much older Steve Alexander what it was like when his Chianina steer, Bill, was judged Grand Champion of the Illinois State Fair, and then brought a record-tying $105,000 at the Sale of Champions. He shares what he’ll do with the winnings, as well as what it’s like to part with an animal he had been working with 12 hours a day for eight months.
Bill did not have a weight problem. His Body Mass Index was just where it should have been. In fact, Bill was judged so perfectly proportioned and otherwise desirable that he was crowned Grand Champion Steer at the 2023 Illinois State Fair.
