TJLA Joins Cooperative Effort to Provide Youth Livestock and Agriculture Position to Extension

The Texas Junior Livestock Association is pleased to announce that it has joined in a cooperative effort with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and with the Texas Farm Bureau to provide a new position that will benefit livestock exhibitors throughout the state. 

Dr. Billy Zanolini has accepted the position of Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist – Youth Livestock and Agriculture with the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program. He will begin on September 15, 2012 and will be housed at the Texas 4-H Headquarters Building. Dr. Zanolini brings a great deal of passion, energy, and expertise to youth livestock and agriculture education programs.

Dr. Zanolini holds a BS and MS from Texas Tech University and a PhD from Texas A&M University. He has been a County Extension Agent in both Wilbarger and Madison Counties. He has planned, implemented, and evaluated very strong youth outcome programs and his doctoral research focused on the 4-H Livestock Ambassadors program he initiated a few years ago. In this study, he developed an educational model of the 4-H youth experience that has since been used as a teaching model for the Texas 4-H & Youth Development Program.

Dr. Zanolini has been a member of the Board of Directors of  the Texas Junior Livestock Association for the past four years.  He also serves as the Sheep Superintendent at the TJLA Belt Buckle Bonanza. He is familiar with the TJLA’s commitment to education for junior livestock exhibitors and has talked about the need for cooperative partnerships between the TJLA and the Texas Extension Service.

In this role, he will be in charge of the TJLA’s educational programs throughout the state. 

“We are very pleased to support this new position in the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and we look forward to working with Dr. Zanolini in this post,” stated Cherie Carrabba, Executive Director of the TJLA.  “We have been committed to the education of junior exhibitors for a number of years, and we feel that Dr. Zanolini will add a new dimension to this role.”

Remembering Kollin Long

The death of livestock exhibitor Kollin Long has been very sobering for this office. I had been planning on sneaking up on Bill in one of his deadline fashions, but I don’t have much play in me this week.  I understand the suffering that the Longs are enduring, and my heart goes out to them.

I didn’t know Kollin well.  I knew he had exhibited American and crossbred steers.  I think that he might have also exhibited a few heifers, but I may be thinking of one of his brothers.  I also knew that he had completed his first year of college at South
Plains and would have been starting his first year at Texas Tech.

I also knew that the Longs, like most livestock families, are a close group.  He and his brothers Kendall and Karter, all exhibited livestock. The brothers, and their dad and mother, Buddy and Theresa, worked as a family unit like the majority of livestock exhibitors.  They were and are good people.  They are the kind of people that you want as your friends.

I am quite sure that Sunday, August 19, was suppose to be one of those normal days where young people go off to fish and return home with fish stories along with stories about one another. 

That is one of the horrible things about death….everything is normal one moment, and in the next minute, an entire family’s life is turned upside down.  You want to recapture that one moment in time.  You want it to be like a video tape that you can replay, edit, and change what is happening. But that cannot happen.

Kollin Long had a good life: tragically short, but the years he had were good ones.  He has gone on to a place that is more beautiful than any of us have the creativity to imagine. The people who need our prayers and our support are his family and his friends.

I have learned, first hand, the power of prayer.  Anyone who has lost a child will tell you that they do not know how they will live through it.  I think that the only way that any of us survive is through the power of the prayers our friends say on our behalf.

You may not be able to comfort Buddy, Theresa, Kendall and Karter first hand. You may not know what words to say to them. But all of us can pray.  In prayer we can ask that God comfort them in this horrible time.  Even if it is difficult for them to believe right now, they will feel the power of those prayers.  Do what you can do, and pray for the Long family.

-Cherie

TGIF

“Today is Friday! Today is Friday!

By Cherie Rash Carrabba

I don’t know why that song hung in my head this morning, but I have repeated it over and over.  

Yesterday was a fiasco. I am busy working on premium checks when my accountant calls.  (I just dread seeing his phone number come up because I know I have a problem.)  He wanted to know why I had not responded to his email. “What email?” I replied. “The one I sent to you last Friday,” he said with that tone in his voice that I hate.

“I have not gotten an email.” I said.  “Cherie?” he asked in a way that reminded me of my mother.

“Ok. I really haven’t received the email, but I haven’t really looked closely at my email this week. I have been working on premium checks for the Bonanza, and the magazine goes to press next week and……” I tried to explain.

“Well the federal government rolls on whether you are in deadline or not, and I would think that you could have someone else write those premium checks.” he said. Before I could reply he told me that he needed all the tax data for John Ben’s estate and Randy’s estate by Monday.

“This coming Monday?” I asked.  “Yes, this coming Monday,” the Nazi replied.  “I have to have that data, and you have had since last February to get it to me.”

I explained to him that I hate all that stuff and that I am a deadline person to which he said, “Good, Monday is your deadline.”  With that he hung up.

I know that I am exasperating, but trying to get that stuff together between Thursday and Monday seems to me to be of the same magnitude that the people in Los Alamos faced when they were trying to make the atomic bomb.  So, since mid-afternoon yesterday, I have been wildly searching for my hard copy data as well as frantically calling our bookkeeper for help.  She wasn’t much easier on me than Mike.

“I turn 80 next week.  You never do anything until the last minute, and I plan on leaving on vacation Monday,” Melba said.  “That is perfect!” I said. I have to have it to Mike by Monday. Why don’t we start bright and early in the morning and plan on working on Saturday?”

I then pulled a Mike stunt and hung up because I didn’t want to hear her reply.

So wish me luck this weekend. I hate tax time!

Midwest State Fair Results

Don’t fire me as a blogger! I have been working on premium checks, and that takes a lot of concentration.  Believe me! I have found that out this week. 

The Showbox traveling crew – Scooter Lewis and Megan Favorite, return today from the Midwest. Ryan and I have decided that next year, we are going to be the traveling team. He will do the Facebooking, and I will do the blogging. Of course, I am sure I will have to censor a lot of his blogging since some of his FB posts send me screaming into his office!

Let’s go back to the Midwest and the results of the Midwest State Fairs.  In Sedalia this week, they are celebrating the 110^th Missouri State Fair.  One of these years, I am going to do a complete history of the State Fairs in the United States. If you hate history, then you won’t be interested, but if you like to know how something came to be, you will love it.

The Grand Champion Steer at the 2012 Missouri State Fair was exhibited by Laurin Dally of Deerfield, while the Reserve Grand Champion Steer was exhibited by Shelby Love of St. Cathrine. At this moment, I do not have more particulars, but I will be working on that.

The acclaimed Iowa State Fair Steer Show was held yesterday with Texan Jim Williams having the honor of judging. The Grand Champion Steer at the 2012 Iowa State Fair was shown by Trevor Moore. The steer was a Heat Wave 4. He was raised by Bob Blake and Jase Clark. 

This year, Charolais cattle did very well at the Midwest State Fairs.  The Reserve Grand Champion Steer was a Charolais exhibited by James Gradert. Vickland raised the steer, and he was sold through a culmination of transactions that included Bonham, Guyer, Bremer and Smith.

Danielle Delange exhibited the Fourth Overall Steer at the Iowa State Fair.  He was sold by Goretska and raised by Mike Treinen. His sire was Heat Wave.

The Fifth Overall Steer was exhibited by Morgan McDermott. Ryan Haberger sold the steer which was sired by Bojo. Steve Downing raised the steer.

There are several state fairs to go including: Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, California, and South Dakota. Reporting will continue, but I think my blogs for the next 10 days will chronicle the comings and goings at our office. That will be scary, and I will probably receive death threats.

None of the office reads my blogs, so I plan on showing up with a camera. Rather than arriving in my pajamas or sweats like I usually do on deadline week, I will dress like a normal person every day.  I will do my hair (most of the time) rather than sticking a baseball cap on it, or tying it up in this mess on the top of my head. I will try to get my office cleaned up. (That is probably an emphasis on the try rather than getting it done, and I will make sure to show everyone else’s mess.) The only neat freaks in the office are Bill and Ryan, but I have an article about that in the September Showbox. 

So tune in again tomorrow folks, as we chronicle…. As the Office Turns.

Another Edition, but this time, not from the Road…

Well, I am home. I lived through the trip, and I have a pile of unread email and unopened mail.  We are working on the September Fall Herd Sire Issue, so any of you wanting to advertise your herd sire, here is a chance at a discount.  Call us at the office, so we can help you.

The Wisconsin State Fair Steer Show is going on today. Dr. Clint Rusk was the judge, and here are the results:

The Champion Performance Steer was exhibited by James Griswald; the Reserve Champion Performance Steer was exhibited by John Acterberg. Allison Hawthorn showed the Champion Angus Steer and Jared Radcliffe exhibited the Reserve Champion Angus Steer.

Brock May exhibited the Champion Chianina Steer. That steer was sired by I Am Legend. The Reserve Champion Chianina Steer was sired by Cool Customer and exhibited by Paige Poad.

In the Hereford Division, Hunter Dischler exhibited the Champion Hereford steer. He was sired by Purple Inferno, and he was sold by Brandon Jones, Matt Hueber, and Shea Geffert. The Reserve Champion Hereford steer was exhibited by John Henderson.

Dr. Clint Rusk chose Ben Himebaugh’s Shorthorn steer as the Champion. That steer was raised by Dakota Smith.  He was sold by Pruet and Shireman, and he was sired by Jakes Proud Jazz. He then selected Hope Schlimgen’s steer as the Reserve Shorthorn.

A steer sired by Monopoly took Champion Maine Anjou honors. He was exhibited by Hunter Dischler who purchased him form Shea Geffert. Lauren May exhibited the Reserve Champion Maine Anjou Steer.  It was sired by Bojo.

Dustin Lillesand exhibited the Champion AOB Steer. It was sold by Trausch and Rockin’ J.  It is a Heatwave steer raised by Michael Greiner. The Reserve Champion AOB was shown by Mikayla Kind.

Dennis Pearson raised the Champion Crossbred Steer which was a Charolais Cross.  It was sired by Milkman exhibited by Brock Man. The Reserve Champion Crossbred Steer was sired by Eye Candy and exhibited by Calli Bayer.

When the Crossbred Champion was chosen, Dr. Rusk selected Brock May’s Charolais crossbred as the Champion Crossbred Steer.

Brock May ended up being both Grand and Reserve Grand Champion. His Chianina Steer was the Grand Champion Steer of the show, and the Crossbred was the Reserve Grand Champion Steer of the Show. The Champion Maine of Hunter Dischler’s was Third Overall. Fourth Overall Steer was the Champion Shorthorn exhibited by Ben Himebauch, and the Fifth Overall Steer was the Champion Hereford exhibited by Hunter Dischler. Sixth Overall was Justin Lillesand’s Champion AOB, Allison Hawthorn’s Champion Angus was the Seventh Overall, and Courtney Schmidt finished the Top Eight Steers of the show with the Champion Dairy Steer.

Congratulations to all the Exhibitors at the Wisconsin State Fair Steer Show!

-Cherie

Indiana State Fair - 2012

I have to apologize for being MIA yesterday, but I had a bump in the road Sunday night that put me off schedule.

Indiana, like Ohio, is one of those states in the Midwest that desperately needs rain. The corn fields in many places are burning up. As I drove from Columbus to Indianapolis, I thought about the farmers who were victims of the weather.

I had a special treat while I was in Indianapolis. My hotel was actually in Marion, which is a small incorporated city with Indianapolis. I chose to drive through Indianapolis rather than take a shorter route by getting on the freeway. My route took me up Meridian Street which is a beautiful drive. In 1986 the National Register of Historical Places named the North Meridian Street neighborhood as one of the most beautiful historical neighborhoods in America, and I understand why. The street is the old silk stocking district of Indianapolis. The beautiful, stately homes built in last part of the 19th Century or the first part of the 20th Century all have large yards and grounds surrounding them.

 If you love architecture, and I do, you want to pause every few yards to get a close up view of a variety of architectural styles that covers most of the styles popular during that period. You might have a beautiful Georgian home next to a home built in the Biedermeier style that was popular in Germany during that period. It was a drive that I enjoyed and took a total of three times while in the city.

The Indiana State Fair is housed right in the heart of Indianapolis. The buildings, many of which were built at different times, are a variety. Indiana was the sixth state to establish a fair. In 1851 the General Assembly of Indiana established the State Board of Agriculture; its first order of duty was to establish a State Fair. The first one was held in Indianapolis in 1852. The fairgrounds have been used for many events important to the city’s history.

Five United States Presidents have made appearances on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to a crowd of 40,000 on a fair day known as Big Thursday. Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush and Bill Clinton all have made appearances on the fairgrounds. In 1959, John F. Kennedy made a speech in the arena as he sought the Presidency.

In the communications building, which houses the media department, Elvis Presley gave one of his first television interviews right after he had written Heartbreak Hotel. One year later in 1957, Mohammed Ali, who was then Cassius Clay, boxed in that building as an amateur. As I was walking on the fairgrounds, I felt like I was a part of history.

John DeClerk and Jirl Buck judged steers and heifers respectively. The Grand Champion Steer was exhibited by Cole Wilcox. It was sired by Immortal and raised by Jeff Miller. The Reserve Grand Champion Steer was a Crossbred sired by Walks Alone and exhibited by Chloe Martin. It was raised by Wes Rodgers and sold by Wade Rodgers and Goet. A Charolais steer was Third Over All. It was a Smilin' Bob shown by Bailey Rist. The steer was raised by Wagonhammer. Kayla Newsom's Reserve Champion Chianina Steer was Fourth Overall and was sired by Uno Mas and sold by Pruet Show Cattle. Emily Greenwald exhibited the Fifth Overall Steer. It was the Champion Maine Anjou.

The Supreme Champion Heifer was exhibited by Claire Trennepohl who exhibited a Simmental. The Reserve Supreme Champion Heifer was exhibited by Ellie Sennett with a Chianina that was raised by Foster Brothers. The Third Overall Heifer was the Champion Commercial Heifer. It was sired by I-80 and exhibited by Becca Chamberlain. Madison Stockdale's Angus heifer was selected as the Fourth Overall. Rounding out the Top Five was a Shorthorn Heifer raised by Xavier Ferris and raised by Cates Farms.

So, I am headed home, but I wish I were going to the Wisconsin State Fair. Next year, I will. Watch for more of my blogs this week. I like this!

-Cherie

The Ohio State Fair 2012

My day at the Ohio State Fair was a good one. I met a lot of new people, saw many good steers, and helped Matt Lautner with his blog. I also saw something very unusual happen. A Charolais cross steer sired by Monopoly and exhibited by Danielle Heinz won the show. The Reserve Grand Steer was another Monopoly exhibited by the young woman I talked about yesterday: MacKenzie Fruchey. The Third Overall Steer was exhibited by Brooke Egbert, and it was a Heatwave. The Fourth Overall Steer was a Monopoly exhibited by Sarah Klehm, and the Fifth Overall Steer was the Shorthorn steer of Kyle Piscone.

The Grand Champion Steer was raised by Troy Thomas of South Dakota and sold by Winegardner Cattle. The Reserve Grand Champion Steer was raised by Brad Linton and sold by Dave Sutherly. Brooke Egbert's Third Overall Steer was Raised by Larry Conn and sold by Goet. The Fourth Overall Steer was raised by Hauke/Forsythe and sold by Donathan McIntosh.

The Ohio State Fair is 159 years old. It began in Cincinnati in 1850. The admission price that year was twenty cents. It moved around between Cleveland, Dayton, Newark, Columbus, Sandusky, Zanesville, Toledo, Springfield and Mansfield until 1886 when it settled in what is now called the Ohio Expo Center. The first butter cow, an item that is amazing to those of us from the South, was put on display in 1903. It was cancelled from 1942- 1945 because of World War II, and the facility was leased to the war department for one dollar a year.

Ohio is a lot like my home state of Texas in that it is now going through horribly dry conditions such as those we suffered through last year. The drought has taken a toll on crops, cattle and trees. It is also like my home state in that the people have a spirit which will overcome all obstacles.

I am off today to Indianapolis for the Indiana State Fair. By the way, office staff, I found two very nice young people to help me yesterday, and I didn't have to carry those boxes of magazines after all.

See you later today, or in the morning.

Cherie

Interstate 71, whose docks are used as grooming chutes.

 The chutes under interstate 71.

  

 The mainstay of the show cattle industry....the Scotch comb.

 

Anywhere there is cattle, there is the same routine.

 My view from the press box.

The one and only Matt Lautner and I.