BRAND NEWS Let’s party like it’s our 75th anniversary By Becky Samples Vice President of Strategic Corporate Communications Oklahoma Farm Bureau & Affiliated Companies
ello and Happy New Year! The past year at Oklahoma Farm Bureau has been a whirlwind of activity, and 2017 shows no signs of slowing down. Our winter 2017 issue of Oklahoma Country includes an OKFB convention review that celebrates our members who carry the banner for agriculture. Readers will have the opportunity to meet the Maschino family, OKFB’s Farm Family of the Year. Roger and Idella Maschino raise cattle in Texas, Cimarron and Delaware counties. Their all-natural beef can be found in more than 200 restaurants across the country, including fine dining establishments in Washington, D.C. and New York City. This issue also highlights all our OKFB award recipients from our state convention, including our Distinguished Service Award. This year’s recipient was Billy Gibson of Pontotoc County. Billy and his wife, Janet, have been in agriculture for nearly 42 years and have been tirelessly serving Oklahoma Farm Bureau for many years in various leadership positions. Check out our other award recipients, several of whom represented OKFB at a national level at the American Farm Bureau convention in January of this year. One of our most exciting endeavors at OKFB is our 75th celebration. I have to be honest with you – in some ways I have dreaded our 75th anniversary. Not because it isn’t exciting, but for the pure fact that 75 years of history is daunting! As our communications team and I began to spend more time in our storage room, or as I like to call it “the OKFB archives,” my dread turned into curiosity. Stacks of periodicals and photos from the 1940s began to serve as a puzzle that we began to piece together to form a timeline of our history. Articles and images of past members began to pile up in our offices, and we began to resemble KilRoy peeking above the stacks. Much like cleaning out your garage and getting lost in old memorabilia, it was easy
to lose a couple hours just reading from our impassioned leaders, oftentimes about issues we continue to fight today. I can easily say that today I no longer look at those stacks in dread, but with excitement about how we can teach our next generation about the policies and technologies that have carried us 75 years strong representing agriculture. Throughout the year, we will celebrate this milestone with several events and activities. We will kick it all off with the dedication to our new courtyard located on the southeast corner of our building. We are also in the final stages of publishing a commemorative pictorial history book that members and history fans alike will surely want to grab a copy. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss highlights and images from our storied past. We hope you enjoy reliving some of our — Becky Samples notable memories and meeting those in agriculture who dreamt of an organization that would work together to loyally support one another through policies, initiatives and service. OKFB is not only successful because of the battles won and fought at 23rd and Lincoln, or the state leaders we help elect, but also because the men and women who humbly came together void of pride or ego, simply to work together to find ways to continue in the legacy that feeds and clothes the world. We look forward to an exciting year full of celebration and education across the state on the importance of agriculture and the stewards of the land who cultivate it.
One of our most exciting endeavors at OKFB this year is our 75th celebration.
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