Every now and then, the stars align to create a moment and memory of a lifetime. That is exactly what happened for Sage Bearden and her most recent accomplishment. Hard work, persistence, and bit of luck came together in a perfect storm as she was named the Grand Champion Market Barrow at the 2023 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. While winning a show of this caliber is incredible in itself, the magic of the moment does not end there.

Sage and her family were given a champions welcome home, no different than if they had just won a state football championship, as they pulled back into their hometown of Crowell, Texas the next day. The entire community came together to celebrate Sage and her big win, complete with a police escort, firetrucks, cars that lined the side of the road, and a fireworks show all to celebrate Sage!

“It was an amazing experience to see how much support the town I live in has for my family and I. Our community is so supportive of everyone in it. If you win something big just keep in mind that there's going to be something for you when you get home. That's just how great of a community that we live in is,” said Sage Bearden.

The Bearden’s are grateful for the support of their community. They live in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and they do their best to support one another.

“It meant the world to us have the support after winning Houston, but it was not surprising either. Our little community loves and supports kids no matter what they are involved in and they do an outstanding job of showing that support and love,” said Scott Bearden, Sage’s dad.

Lezlie Carroll, organizer of the welcome home celebration, said the entire community showed up to support Sage. All it took was a simple Facebook post and a few logistics and it was set.

“As a parent of 3 children and coming from a community that highly supports livestock projects, I feel it is extremely important for young people to experience a livestock project. For the Bearden Family it required lots of sweat, hard work, and discipline. It takes effort, determination, and drive as a family. All this for a few minutes, or even just seconds of one judge's opinion. But this pig "Oklahoma Smokeshow" caught the eyes of the judges from the minute the pig entered the ring! From that moment lots of incredible memories were made. Yes, stock showing is a lot of hard work, but the lessons learned and friends made along the way make it so worth it! If you have never attended a major livestock show I encourage you to attend one and see all the work the youth and adult leaders put into their projects,” said Carroll.

Without community support, stories like Sage’s and a magnitude of others like hers would not be possible. To all the communities out there who unconditionally support the youth and their livestock projects, thank you. It does not go unnoticed.