Community Rallies to Support 4-H Family, Buys Pig for $102,000
The crowd roared, tears rolled and the auctioneer was at a loss for words as 10-year-old Hudson Duttlinger’s 300-pound Reserve Grand Champion Breeding Gilt sold for $102,000 – $340 a pound at the Porter County Fair 4-H Livestock Auction on July 28 in Valparaiso, Ind.
“That moment was amazing and bittersweet,” says Eric Duttlinger, Hudson’s father.
He heard rumblings their community was coming together to do something to honor his wife, Ashlee, who was fighting a courageous battle against colon cancer. She was diagnosed several years ago. Her cancer went into remission, but it came back with a vengeance.
“It’s been an up and down battle for years, but never once has Ashlee had a bad attitude about anything in life,” wrote close family friend Jonathan Kraft on the GoFundMe page he and his wife, Anna, started to create the Duttlinger Family Scholarship Fund. “Unfortunately, her fight has become too much, and they have brought in hospice to make her more comfortable.”
The Krafts serve as the co-chairs of the Porter County 4-H Celebration Sale. They used their organizing skills honed by decades of professional and personal experience to put together a bidding “war” for the 2022 auction. By the time sale was over, 116 donations had been made, and were treated as a collective buyer for the auction.
A favorite memory from the 2021 Porter County Fair. Photo by Aimee Tomasek.
A Speechless Moment
As Hudson walked his gilt into the sale ring, his parents couldn’t have been prouder of their son’s hard work, and they couldn’t have been more overwhelmed by their community’s generosity.
“I was completely shocked, stunned and speechless,” Duttlinger says. “I had heard they were going to do something, but never in a million years, thought it would be that amount.”
Kraft wanted to see Ashlee’s name hang on the sale records banner in the Porter County Fair show ring for eternity. He asked the Duttlinger family if they would be willing to put the gilt in the auction so they could take the donations from the GoFundMe page to purchase the pig. Although Hudson wanted to take the gilt to the state fair, they agreed to put her in the sale.
But the giving didn’t stop there. Since the auction night, the donations have continued to roll in. Kraft says the final sale price will be more than $120,000 – a world record for a crossbred gilt.
“One of the promises I made to donors was that we would buy the pig and donate it to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, which provides millions of free meals each year to families in need.
Because Hudson won with a gilt and not a barrow, we could not butcher the gilt because he wanted to breed it,” Kraft says. “I ended up buying another 4-Her's pig, Jentry Brewer's barrow, and it will be processed and donated to the food bank in the place of Hudson's.”
Eric Duttlinger built Ashlees Barn and donated to the county fair's kiddie pedal town. Photo provided by Duttlinger.
Immeasurable Impact
Three days later, on July 31, Ashlee lost her long-fought battle with cancer.
“Ashlee gained her angel wings today,” Duttlinger says. “She is finally pain free and whole again. She was an amazing wife, mother and best friend. She was an inspiration to all that knew her.”
Funny. Kind. Talented. Smart. There are so many ways to describe Ashlee, her friends say.
“She lifted us up every step of the way, making us all a little better than when we started on this journey of life,” says Aimee Tomasek, a friend of the family. “Start your day and week with her in mind; be a little like Ashlee: kind, funny, smart and talented. Support those around you with the same spirit and love that our friend did. Ashlee was truly a gem, shining brightly in a sometimes dark place.”
There’s no question the county fair held a special place in Ashlee’s heart. Duttlinger built a small barn for the fair’s kiddie pedal town where kids can ride tractors. He says they dedicated the barn to Ashlee this year.
“It’s been an overwhelming week,” Duttlinger says. “She will be greatly missed. I would give every cent back to get her back.”
To learn more about the scholarship fund, visit Duttlinger Family Scholarship Fund.
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