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and I thank them whole heartedly for that. I would also like to welcome the newly elected directors; Madison Fenton, Ken Baty and John Blackstock. Thank you once again to everyone on the board of directors and also our members for the time and effort it takes to keep this organization ticking. We have talked for years about the possibility of a new office building and we are excited about the completion of that very soon. Finishing touches are being added to it as this goes to press and we should be able to take possession and move in within the next month or two. We continue to seek ideas from our members as we look for additional avenues to benefit more members. Please contact your director and bring information forward so we can continue to grow the organization. We value all of our members and look forward to positive suggestions to move forward in our industry. I am looking forward to another exciting year of serving the ABGA and helping our members!!
Message from the CEO
The 25th ABGA/ JABGA National Show in Grand Island ,NE, featured well over 2,000 entries. The completion was fierce this year resulting in a set of impressive newly crowned National Champions. While dreams were realized for the chosen I must note there were numerous other fantastic examples of our great breed on display as well. Though you may not have taken home the hardware this time judging by the feedback I am receiving you certainly did not go unnoticed. THANK YOU to all our sponsors for your generosity, from those who endowed our juniors with a lavish treasure trove of prizes, for the live coverage of this event, and to those that sponsored the ABGA show via ringside tables, endcaps, and awards. Collectively your support has allowed us to grow this event to what many would consider to be the premier Boer Goat show in the world. My hats off to all of you! THANK YOU to all the volunteers, directors, and show management that worked countless hours to make this show a reality and a huge success. In my short tenure we have never been so lucky to have had so many of you involved in the hosting of this great event. Without all of you it could not have happened. Four years ago I believe I could have easily counted the volunteers with my fingers this year I honestly would need serious help to identify all of you as you were everywhere. I cannot thank all of you who contributed enough! With all of the positives of growing our National Show comes some growing pains and for any of you who were inconvenienced in any way as a result PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGY. I have a notebook full of President ideas, changes, and plans that I hope will eliminate these issues in the ABGA Board of Directors coming year. I suspect we will never be perfect but it imperative that we continue to work from one year to the next to continuously improve. With that said by all means send forward your suggestions to your directors and myself for review. I want to say a special THANK YOU to ALL THE STAFF here at the ABGA office for going the extra mile to get the job done this year. Additionally Aaron, your taking time off from your new job to bring your years of experience back to the show was greatly appreciated! Mary Ellen words cannot describe what you put yourself through to make this year’s show a success. I applaud you for doing any and everything you could to be sure every exhibitors work was completed in time for them to compete, that a small army of people’s travel needs were met, for managing the logistics of the mountain of prizes and awards and other details, and at the same time managing to hold an office together at the peak of registration season. I recall you smiling and saying, "trust me, we will get through this. We always do.” at a really tough point. We did but it would not have happened without you!!! We will be back in Grand Island, NE in 2020 and I for one am hoping all of the 2019 exhibitors will be back with us too. If what I am already hearing becomes a reality we can expect a large contingency of new exhibitors in 2020 as well. It seems the desire to show Boer Goats is contagious. Thank you exhibitors for making the 25th Annual ABGA National Show a huge success we could not have done it without you.
The Boer Goat - 5
