The best reason....
Letter from the Editor
I’ve spent hours contemplating on what message to send this month. I’m not going to tell you what’s in the magazine. Instead, I encourage you to read each article. In looking for the perfect inspirational quote for my message, I ran across a saying by Guy Kawasaki. “The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place.” I was looking for something from Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison or someone dynamic, but they just didn’t seem to fit. This quote, however, struck a chord with me as I reflect on my own life, which is much better with the addition of Boer goats. They aren’t just goats; they are a lifestyle. For many of us, the ABGA is the organization that brings together the meat goat industry that we all love. Traveling from show to show or from sale to sale offers my family a set of friends, “my stockshow family,” that believe in the same products that we have to offer. We are competitors inside the ring, but many of us are family outside the ring. (And much like our own families, we have moments of frustration.) My message this month is pretty simple. Believe in the product you have to offer, no matter where you fall in the ring, and enjoy the company of those alongside you. These are the friends that will help push us to the next level. We’ve all had a mentor along the way. Thank you to those individuals who take the time to give out a feed ration or a grooming technique that can change a new breeder’s course. You know who you are! Where else, but in agriculture, can you spend weekend after weekend with your stockshow families? I couldn’t have said it any better than Jason Brashear. “Judging every weekend makes for a crazy barn and a messy house, but a pretty nice life,” he said. For more on Jason, read his spotlight in the judges’ corner.
Karla Blackstock
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING The next face-to-face Board meeting will be held December 11-12, 2015 in Las Vegas, NV.
RULE CHANGES Rule 708c has been amended to require an ABGA membership for agents. Rule 212 has been amended to permit a junior member to use the same herd prefix as the adult member/agent that resides within the same household. Ribbons for ABGA Shows in Conjunction with Fairs Shows can now request either monetary support or a ribbon package. This selection must be made at the time the sanction application is submitted. Shows that qualify for monetary support have the option of selecting ribbon packages OR monetary support. The sanction and penalty against Ms. Miranda Dickens has been withdrawn and she is a member in good standing.
In memory of Jack Talley. Jack was born on May 7, 1953, in Burnet County, Texas, and passed away on July 20, 2015. Jack and Mary were married on Jun 4, 1971 and had two daughters, Amy and Stacey. Jack and Mary started raising Boer goats in 1999, and they soon became his passion. In 2006, Jack
became a certified ABGA judge. He
served the Boer goat community as a
breeder, judge, friend and mentor.
To honor his life and love of Boer
goats, the First Annual Jack
M. Talley Memorial Boer
Goat Show will be held on April 16-17,
2016 in Sweetwater, Texas.
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