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Cancer is a disease that impacts everyone in one form or another – whether it’s a personal battle or one that touches friends and family.

Showing support for those in the trenches of the fight is important for their physical and emotional well-being. Many county Farm Bureaus throughout the state show their support for local communities by hosting and sponsoring events that bring awareness to health-related issues.

That’s what 25-year-old Uriah Cade decided to do a few years ago when his mother, Amber, was diagnosed with cancer.

Community is important to Cade, who is currently both president of the Lawrence County Farm Bureau and a member of the Symmes Valley Local School District Board of Education. So, when he realized that many other community members, including his mother, were fighting cancer, he and other Farm Bureau officers decided to do something to help.

“We wanted to make sure this event was helping people in some way, and a lot of us have been touched by cancer,” Cade said. “So many people on our Farm Bureau board have been affected by it, and it seems like so many in Lawrence County are fighting cancer. It wasn’t just because my mom was fighting cancer.”

They settled on a multifaceted event: An open market feeder calf and prospect heifer show where breast cancer awareness would be promoted, donations for chemotherapy comfort bags could be collected and young people could gather to show off their animals.

“We have some very passionate Lawrence County Farm Bureau board members,” explained Ashley Kasler, organization director for Athens-Meigs, Gallia and Lawrence County Farm Bureaus. “They wanted to give kids the opportunity to exhibit their livestock more than just at the fair.”

Ring on the River, as it is known, kicked off in the fall of 2022. Since that inaugural event was held in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it seemed fitting to have the show reflect that awareness, Cade said.

Kasler said donations for the chemotherapy comfort bags, which can help anyone undergoing chemotherapy, come from individuals and from corporate sponsors. She said families and friends appreciate the opportunity to give back.

Donations are collected at Ring on the River and at local OSU Extension offices and then assembled into bags or, in one case, Farm Bureau coffee mugs.

“It’s little things to make them feel better, things like stress balls, ink pens, lotion, gum, hard candy, that sort of thing,” Cade said. The number of bags assembled has ranged from 80 to 200 each year and are donated to the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center in Huntington, West Virginia.

While about 30 young people participated in the first Ring on the River, the number had grown to nearly 50 by last year, Kasler said. Participants don’t have to be Ohio residents, so many come from nearby West Virginia. Any individual can show a calf or heifer, but the showmanship portion of the show is restricted to those ages 21 and under.

2025 Ring on the River

This year’s show is Sept. 28 at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds in Proctorville, Ohio, along the Ohio River. Participants can sign up with a $40 entry fee until the day of the show and can participate in the showmanship category for an additional $5. Calves born after Jan. 1 the year of the event are eligible and are grouped by weight.

Show champions in the two categories each get cash prizes: $500 for the grand champion, $300 for reserve, $150 for third, $100 for fourth and $50 for fifth place. Each youngster in the showmanship category goes home with a new rope halter.

Kasler said the show costs $2,500 to $3,000 a year to put on and the county Farm Bureau picks up any cost that sponsors don’t cover.

She said it’s a community-building event that’s worth the expense.

“There are a lot of people who just come and hang out for the day. The weather is usually decent and there’s usually a food truck. And it’s a free event.”

For the kids showing their livestock, it’s a chance to practice being calm in the show ring and to keeping their animal calm, she said.

“Raising livestock teaches the kids a lot of responsibility,” she said. “They have to get up in the morning to feed it, they have to wash it and care for it.”

Cade knows those responsibilities well. He grew up on a farm – first a tobacco farm and now a cow-calf operation.

He also knows the importance of supporting those suffering from cancer. His mother’s cancer was discovered in February 2022, and she battled it with surgery and chemotherapy for more than a year. She is now cancer free.

KEY POINTS

• Cancer has an impact on every community.
• Ring on the River is an open market feeder calf and prospect heifer show in Lawrence County that spotlights breast cancer awareness. This year’s event is Sept. 28 in Proctorville.
• Statewide, county Farm Bureaus support the local community through health initiatives.

WHAT’S NEXT
Learn more about the initiatives happening in your county by visiting your county’s website.

Online Extra: Cultivating a Cure

The 15th annual Cultivating a Cure, an event created to support cancer treatment and prevention research, was held at Arlington Acres in Seneca County on Aug. 24. The annual event raises money for The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) and The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Established in 2011 by the Porteus family, Cultivating a Cure was founded to honor their passion for cancer research and prevention while also remembering those who have fought and continue to fight cancer. Since its inception, Cultivating a Cure has raised close to $1.5 million.