Butter me up — what an honor for local girl

COLUMBUS — "A once in a lifetime opportunity!" That is how Abecka Ruggles describes being featured as a life-size butter sculpture at The 2022 Ohio State Fair. On Tuesday, July 26, The Ohio State Fair revealed the 2022 Ohio State Fair butter sculpture with Ruggles featured as the poultry representative along with four other species — cows, goats, swine and sheep. The Ohio Ag Net General Manager Dale Minyo stated in his newscast at the reveal, "This year, the display pays tribute the fair's agricultural history as The Ohio State Fair 2022 butter sculpture features the participants in the 2021 Sale of Champions," where Ruggles was the 2021 Ohio State Fair Reserve Grand Champion Pen of Meat Chickens. "The first butter cow made its debut at The Ohio State Fair in 1903 and was crafted by A.T. Shelton & Co., distributors of Sunbury Cooperative Creamery butter. Eventually, the butter cow, and later the butter calf, found a permanent home in the Dairy Products Building, which was constructed in the 1920s," also according to Minyo. Over the years, many other butter sculptures have been designed and completed but this is the first time in the butter cow's 119-year history that the display has featured Sale of Champion participants. This year's sculpture is also the largest on record. While the butter sculptures typically weigh-in about 2,000 pounds, Minyo said, "This year's record-breaking, biggest-ever display includes 2,530 pounds of butter! It took six sculptors over 600 hours to complete the sculpture that is kept in a cooler at 45 degrees. "In order to construct the sculpture, The American Dairy Association Mideast uses butter past its expiration date and is not able to be consumed and after the fair, the butter is recycled and refined into an ingredient used in a variety of non-edible products." Abecka, of Monroeville, is a member of the Ridgefield Country Kids 4-H Club in Huron County. Her family has been involved in Huron County 4-H since it began in 1919 and this year will be her third year exhibiting market chickens at The Ohio State Fair. "I really was surprised to see myself as a life size butter sculpture," Abecka said. "It looks exactly like me and I didn't realize when I won last year that I would get to be a butter sculpture with my chicken this year. That was the best surprise ever." Abecka, daughter of Marc and Betsy Ruggles, is the second generation to win Reserve Grand Champion at The Ohio State Fair after her father Marc won in 1988. "Our family has always been involved with The Ohio State Fair exhibiting chickens for over two generations and it really is a family affair," Marc said. "All six of our children work together to see each other succeed and it is incredible to watch as this next generation continues those same family traditions but also break new boundaries as Abecka being featured as the 2022 Ohio State Fair Butter Sculpture is exciting for all of us."