Feature Article responsible for every aspect they would apply in their careers. From event planning to fundraising, they are solely responsible for their own success and the success of their own events.” Having been actively involved in the IJBBA growing up, Bret Burgin also realizes the value of the association. Burgin grew up in Oktaha, Okla., on his family’s purebred Brangus ranch along with two older sisters, Jodi Burgin Jackson and Gaye Pfeiffer. Together, they were present at the meeting when the IJBBA was formed, and Burgin showed in the very first National Junior Brangus Show (NJBS) hosted in Moberly, Mo., in 1982. You could say IJBBA runs in the family’s blood. Gaye, served as the first IJBBA Queen, and Jodi was Queen the following year. In 2012-2013 Jodi’s daughter, Emily Jackson, served as the first ever second generation IJBBA Queen, following in her mother’s and aunt’s footsteps. “I feel very fortunate to have been there and been involved in the formation of the IJBBA. There were a handful of people who all had a dream there, and it was primarily us kids who prompted the initial inception with the help of some good leadership,” Burgin said. “The thing that I have carried with me from that experience is when you set your mind to something, do it and follow it through.”
Burgin showed Brangus heifers primarily and a few steers. He served as the IJBBA vice president and received an International Brangus Auxiliary (IBA) scholarship his senior year. Burgin went on to compete in livestock judging at the collegiate level at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and at Texas A&M University where he graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s in Animal Science. Following graduation, Burgin moved to Spearman, Texas, and completed the manager trainee program at a feedlot in the Texas panhandle, Spearman Cattle Feeders, where he worked for three years. It was not long before Burgin decided it was time for a change. Now after almost 25 years working in the banking industry, Burgin is a Senior Vice President at the First National Bank of Spearman and works in agriculture lending. (continued on page 26)
Above: The Burgin family - Carter, Paige, Jaci, and Bret at the San Antonio stockshow. Right: Burgin served as Vice President on the 1981-1982 IJBBA Officer Team.
BRANGUS Journal
August 2014 | 25