Friends step up for Sheller family in face of tragedy
By GRACE GREEN
grace@readthereporter.com
After a February barn fire destroyed all their 4-H pigs, a local family found support from friends to rebuild and have a successful 4-H season.
Aaron Sheller, father of three 4-H exhibitors, had just gotten their 4-H pigs before the tragedy.
“We came home from a vacation, and the kids had just gotten their 4-H pigs in the barn and they were all excited about it,” Sheller said. “The next morning, we woke up to the barn on fire and it burned to the ground. In that process our kids lost all of their 4-H pigs.”
The Shellers’ barn after the fire. (Photo provided)
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Before the fire, the Webels, a local family who had success raising and showing 4-H animals, had been mentoring the Shellers.
“They’ve always played a huge part in getting our pigs and teaching my kids how to feed them and helping them learn how to show them,” Sheller said.
When the Webels found out about the fire, they stepped in to help the Shellers recover from the loss.
“They jumped at it and got us another round of 4-H pigs almost instantly.”
While waiting for their barn to be rebuilt, the Shellers had to find a place to house their new pigs, along with their other livestock.
“We had pigs in the garage,” Sheller said, “they kept pigs for us at their house for a month and took care of them.”
The Shellers also credited Spencer and Emilie Carson with helping them through the aftermath of the fire.
“They kept sheep for us until we were able to get the barn finished, which took a while,” Sheller said. “We had to tear the other one down and clean everything up and then rebuild it.”
Thanks to the generosity and assistance of two other families, Sheller children Hallie, Davanee, and Luke came home with multiple awards from the Hamilton County 4-H Fair. (Photo provided)
Despite the major setback, the Shellers were able to have a successful 4-H fair, with their daughter, Hallie, winning grand champion in Intermediate Goat Showmanship and Intermediate Sheep Showmanship, along with being a champion in commercial market lambs.
Their other children, Davanee and Luke Sheller, also competed and placed in these categories.
“I consider it to be a family win,” Sheller said. “I don’t think that we would have been able to do 4-H and let our kids participate if it wasn’t for those families.”