Hi All-
I am the 2010 Wisconsin Holstein Princess Attendant and on February 16th and 19th I took the opportunity to talk with two 4th grade classrooms from Reedsville Public Schools and four 2nd grade classrooms from Valley View Elementary in Ashwaubenon. I spoke to over 125 kids about our own Holstein cow - what an amazing experience. The kids were awestricken that cows actually go on vacation, dry period. The students were glad that they got three months of vacation, compared to the cows two months vacation. The teachers were very impressed with my knowledge of the Holstein cow and what dairy is all about, not just what is on television shows.
All of the students were guessing how many stomachs a dairy cow had and even a teacher pitched in and was so excited because he thought he knew the answer. Come to find out he was a little off, I can say. I brought all kinds of different things that you would find on a dairy farm, from baler twine to milk replacer, and this I think really helped them realize that if you think of it the kids thought they are kind of like humans. I also brought cheese donated from Henning Cheese, which the kids were most appreciative of. I really had fun with the kids and the more and more classrooms I visit I hope the message does spread that dairy farms are the family farm and not the factory.
Wow, where do I start with the Wisconsin Holstein Adult Convention? Hmm, do I start with Elvis or … well I will start from the beginning. Once I got to convention (getting out of school early and missing U.S. Government is a plus) I was amazed that there was really no sitting around - the adults get right to work with meetings for all of the many various activities that the WHA puts on.
The 1st Annual Futures Sale was a huge hit; the sale averaged $5055. Saturday I gave an address to the President’s Breakfast and then it was off to the spouse’s tour. On the tour, we had the opportunity to tour our own capitol and Olbrich’s Botanical Garden. Then the convention attendee’s toured farms at Opsal’s Ridge and the Lyle and Deanna Opsal and Troy Opsal families, as well as Kellercrest Registered Holsteins, Inc.; and the Tim and Sandy, and Mark Keller family.
At Opsal’s Ridge they had a very nice set-up with a few box stalls which I always like for cows and they recently added on to their stanchion barn which looked very nice. At Kellercrest I really liked their calf set-up which was newly built and they really put some thought into building it. They had drainage for each pen, dividers that could be pulled out to make pens bigger or to clean the pens out easily with a skit steer.
Next was the banquet which was very elegant and much deserved. Honors were distributed for Young Distinguished Breeder to Todd Borgwardt of Sunnyside Dairy in Valders, WI which is from my home county of Manitowoc of which the county is very proud of. Honored with Distinguished Service recognition was Mike Snyder of Baraboo, WI. Receiving the prestigious Distinguished Breeder honors were Allen and Pat Rippchen of Ripvalley Holsteins, Ithaca, WI.
Next was the desert auction which was well…let me say interesting, we raised a gracious sum of money for the scholarship fund which the juniors are much appreciated of, including me. Next came the hypnotist, I tried it but I am glad it didn’t work; you never get sick of seeing it done because it never fails to have a good laugh. Did you know that WHA has their own Elvis and he is actually good? Trust me, he actually sang to me. We also had a very beloved Barney you can not forget and I am sure you will be hearing about these people and may actually get to meet them throughout this show season.
Congratulations to all of the much deserved award honorees at Convention, and I hope to see you all at Spring Show!
WHA Princess Attendant, Cara Biely
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