| Slichters
are Grand Marshals
Idaho County Free Press Leon was born and raised on the family homestead on Long Road just outside of Grangeville where he grew up farming, ranching and riding horses. He attended grade school in Grangeville and then went on to school in Cottonwood for his junior high and high school years. Sheryl Ann Currin was born and raised in Cottonwood and though she said she didn’t know much about the horses Leon loved, she did have animal experience: “I milked a nanny goat for several years,” she smiled. Each grew up with four brothers and one sister. The two met each other during high school. “Should I tell the whole story?” Leon asked Sheryl during a June interview at their home. “Is it the truth or is it your version?” Sheryl asked. Without hesitation, Leon went on: “I was very shy. When we new kids walked into Prairie High School in Cottonwood, I saw a girl who pointed to me and a deep voice said, ‘that one’s mine.’ And here we are.” The two married and lived in Payette and White Bird, working on ranches, until they settled on Long Road. There, next to Leon’s parents, they raised three sons and a daughter: Joe, Nick, Clancy and Maureen. Clancy is the youngest. “It’s been a great place to raise children,” Sheryl said. Both Leon and Sheryl were in Idaho County 4-H while they were growing up. “I didn’t know there was any other project but livestock until we did a tour of the Fenn Livestock members’ projects at each other’s homes,” Leon recalled. “We went to Jim Suhr’s and he did dryland potatoes as a project and I was amazed. It was really interesting.” The Slichters became co-leaders of Fenn Livestock with Marvin and Jackie Forsmann, following Leon’s brother-in-law, Jim Vopat, and served in that capacity for 13 years. Their children were all members of the Fenn club. “We can’t say enough about the 4-H program here,” Leon said. “The kids all learned so much – responsibility, leadership, business skills.” Now the couple’s grandkids (they have 10 in all) are members of the same club, along with the Cottonwood Saddliers and the Indoor/Outdoor Club. An avid horseman, Leon learned to shoe horses at the age of 18. “I used to be the young guy shoeing the horses and now I’m the old guy shoeing horses for my kids,” Leon shook his head. This has served him well as he and Sheryl still live on his family’s land and run cattle and have a small herd of 15 horses. “I have accused him of sneaking horses in during the middle of the night,” Sheryl joked. “They’re not all mine,” Leon said in defense. A few years back the Slichters packed up and moved. “I said, ‘we’re moving out,’” Leon said. They moved 300 yards to his parents’ home, the same house he grew up in. The couple’s children and grandchildren make the sixth and seventh generations to live on the land. They said they have never been in the business of making money from the land they live on. Sheryl was shocked when she married Leon and found out the pay schedule. “You get paid once a year?” she shook her head. “I couldn’t believe it!” Throughout the years the family has not only raised cattle but also tried their hands at hogs. They also grow enough hay for their livestock. Leon has worked for the county weed management program for the past 18 years and Sheryl spent 22 years at both Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School and Grangeville High School as a secretary and now works fulltime as the SPP Parish secretary. The couple’s hobbies are mostly homespun and being immersed in their church, their family and their community. They have had few vacations out of Idaho in the past several decades, but that suits Leon fine. “As Lee Pitts said, ‘the pleasure is in the work.’ I enjoy being here and living like we do,” he said. “I like to be on horseback, and I enjoy fishing. I also hunt every fall – doing my duty to feed my family,” he smiled. “We are very blessed,” Sheryl added, “to be able to live as we do, and have our family close-by.” Nick and Joe and their families each live in Grangeville while Maureen and her husband and family live in Cottonwood. Clancy, who is in the Navy and stationed in Florida, and his family will soon move back to the area. The entire Slichter family has served at the fair in some way throughout the years, from helping with judging and sale day, to working with royalty and being a 4-H/Ambassador member. “We spent a lot of time at the fair – even the years when we didn’t have kids or grandkids participating,” Sheryl said. “It’s a good fair, run by people who have continually made it better each year,” Leon added. “We are proud to be a part of it.” 
Cheryl and Leon Slichter are the 2015 Idaho County Fair Grand Marshals. Photo by Lorie Palmer. |
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