WASHINGTON COURTHOUSE, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio (RMHC) along with many different partners host a ‘Celebrity Steer Show’ at the Ohio State Fair every summer. The show brings 4-H families, local media partners, and the RMHC together to raise money for the families who stay at the house each year.
NBC4’s Kyle Beachy is teaming up with Dean Family Farm and NiSource this year. Their team ‘Johnny’s Charity Champions’ will compete for ‘Best in Show’ with a goal of raising $15,000 for RHMC. The show “celebrates the values of agriculture, youth, and community” with all proceeds supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio and their mission to provide “comfort, care, and support to families in need”.
“The work that the Ronald McDonald House does, not only for the Ohio region, but all across the world, is amazing. They have so many opportunities to meet other people and, get the treatment and be able to have the housing they need with the amenities around them.” NiSource representative and current RHMC of Central Ohio Board of Trustees member Steve Sylvester said.
Each family that stays with the Ronald McDonald house has a unique story. Each child whose lives are touched by the care they receive and having their family right by their side is special, and only possible through RMHC. Much like those children and their families, the Dean family nearly lost their Black Angus steer, ‘Johnny’, when he was born.
“He had a rough delivery. He got stuck in the birth canal. It was early in the morning. We didn’t catch it in time. We noticed his tongue was very, very swollen in his face from about. His eyes were very swollen, and his tongue had a lot of little black dots on it. We tube fed him to get colostrum. And because you got to have it within the first four hours,” Trevor Dean said.
‘Johnny’ was still having trouble feeding. He wouldn’t latch on to his mom, and without that necessary connection and nutrition, Johnny wasn’t going to make it.
“After two feedings for a couple days to keep him alive, he proceeded to ask if he could try a thing called a ‘Madigan squeeze’ on him. And, I’m not very technically how the wrapping goes, but there’s a special wrapping technique of it that they lay the rope across the top of the body, and then they wrap it in a sequence, pull it tight, and it kind of simulates the animal coming back out of the birth canal. After 15 minutes of that you release the tension of it and the calf stands up and it goes right to its mom and starts sucking,” Dean said.
That’s when Johnny’s story really began.
“Whether it’s Johnny or the families that come into the Ronald McDonald House, they all have a story, right? And when you think about how, the opportunities there to help people, it’s just, it’s just huge,” Sylvester said.
“That’s kind of where he got his name, Johnny. Because, if it wasn’t for Johnny, he wouldn’t be here,” said Dean. Now, Dean’s teenage son, Bryson, has the responsibility of caring for Johnny. The younger Dean has been showing Johnny in about a dozen competitions over the last year. The steer now weighs over 1400 pounds, and he’s still growing.
Bryson likes to play baseball, basketball, and show his steer.
“My family did it when they were kids. I enjoy like taking care of the animals and washing them a lot,” Bryson Dean said.
This year, he’s adding charity work to his resume. The Deans are already a part of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, one of the partners of the Celebrity Steer Show. Then they were asked to be a part of the show.
“Seeing how good it was for the kids and the community and what they all do for everything; they were willing to step up and help wherever we could. And we got offered to do the Ronald McDonald show and there was no hesitation between all of us here in the house to say yes,” said Trevor Dean.
It’s become a whole family affair for the Deans.
“It’s actually kind of rewarding because it’s something we do together as a family. It’s also kind of nice to see your kids learn responsibility, learn how to take care of things, learn how this industry works,” Amanda Dean said.
It’s also been a great opportunity to show their kids how important it is to support others.
“We’re doing this for other people. We’re not just doing it for us and it’s going to help these other families,” she said.
The Celebrity Steer Show is scheduled for July 31, 2025 at 4:00 pm at the Voinovich Livestock & Trade Center at the Ohio State Fair.
‘Johnny’s Charity Champions’ team page can be found here.
