MEMORY OF BRIAN GOOD

Memory of Brian Good By Jon Fox

It is an honor and privilege to be asked by Brian’s family to give some insight and thoughts to Brian’s life in the Purebred Business. As all of you know Brian was a very special man in this business. Most everyone could consider him a friend, even if there was disagreement it never stopped him from finding common ground and a positive ending to the conversation. That is extremely rare in these days of constant breaking news and instant access to information via social media.

This following presentation is from the heart, as I was asked by Brian’s family to do. I never intentionally left anyone out of it or in it. He was one of a kind and had many lives worth of experiences and friendships. We were all blessed to know him.

Brian was a lifer in the Purebred Cattle Business, after a good run operating the family farm, Black Brow Cattle Company with his father Glenn and family they dispersed the herd successfully in 1991. I remember Brian’s many heartfelt and hilarious stories about these times, about many friends like, Doug Noad, the Hamilton boys, Kenny Cox, Bob Switzer, Robbie Mathews, the Houghtons in BC and many more. We could leave on a trip to BC and I could listen to these stories for hours and laugh and learn about those days and after many hours of driving, we would be at our destination, it seemed in no time at all, of course a huge part of Brian’s life was the sales, marketing and promotion part. He worked with some of the best, Doug & Linda Henderson and Rob Holowaychuk as a consultant and he ran quite a few successful sales of his own under 4G Livestock Services. Callaway, Bob Toner, Hugh Ross, Don Raffen, Chris Poley, Andy Jones & Grant Rolston, there are many more as well but as we all know Brian was always the guy to talk to about what was going on in our world and it was people like this he shared information with to stay on top of what was going on.

It is fairly safe to say Brian knew just about everyone. His quick wit and sharp mind made it seem easy to do what he did for a living. He also possessed a very good eye for quality cattle of any breed and he didn’t care if you didn’t agree with him, he would always stand behind his pick of a good bull or female. I really admired that quality in Brian.

I would be remiss not to mention Brian’s time with Harry Haney at Independent Breeders Service. This is where I first got to know Brian as I am sure many in my age range would say the same. From the first time I met him I knew I had a good friend and I am forever grateful for this. I have to tell this quick story about Brian. Shelly & I remember it like it was yesterday, we were just a couple of kids at the Limousin field day in Lloydminster hosted by the Payne family and their many good friends, there was always a cold beer on hand and a good visit to be had. Later on, Shelly & I decided to go uptown to a local country bar Ezzie’s. We had been visiting with Brian earlier that evening and we ran into him on our way out and he said, “Hey can I catch a ride with you guys, I will get you a beer when we get there.” And we said sure. Well, all we had was Shelly’s Camaro to drive and I could see him thinking how in the hell am I going to get in the backseat of this thing, but we got it done.

There were many people in the sales business he considered close friends. These are a few that I know he worked with and would talk with on a regular basis, Bob Switzer, Rob Lundago, Mark Stock, Steve Dorran, Duane Personage, Bob Prestage, Dave On the way there Brian remembered he needed to get cash, well back then ATM’s were only in front doors of the banks. So, we stopped on main street at one of the banks and some how got him out of the backseat, but he couldn’t work out how to get in

the door of the bank. After 10 minutes of all three of us trying to figure it out we got in to get the cash. And just as luck would have it a police car slowly drove by, thankfully the cop must have had somewhere else to be, but I bet he was wondering what were these 3 up to in a souped-up Camaro trying to maneuver our way into a bank machine on a Saturday night. Anyways we got to Ezzie’s had a great time and that was the start of many great times to be had.

Brian played a prominent role at Independent Breeders, the philosophy was simple, get out there and be at events, get to know the people and get the business, it was a successful approach and made IBS a household name in the industry.

Brian’s love for the Angus Business especially Black Angus cattle was unmatched by anyone I know. So, when he took the Fieldman job with Canadian Angus, I thought it was the perfect fit for him.

Brian’s ability as Fieldman shone bright from day one. He sometimes single handedly carried the Canadian Angus torch to all walks of life. In his quest to serve his association and the breeders, he represented fairly and properly at all times, this is an incredible achievement. I would think when they google Cattle Breed Fieldman in the future, Brian’s smiling face and his sparkling eye should be what pops up. He set the mold for all others to follow and in my mind, there will never be another fieldman like Goody.

Brian was a mentor to many of the CAA staff, I believe he really enjoyed working with all of them. That said he wasn’t a stay in the office type of guy, but he took seriously the responsibility of keeping in touch with his fellow staff on details big and small where ever he was in the world. He gained many good friends in his fellow staff members.

He was 24/7 Canadian Angus during this time. Countless hours and days of travel all over Canada and the United States and parts of the world promoting our breed and indeed our Country.

He was instrumental in so many aspects of our association activities from the many bull sales, female sales, major shows, junior shows which Brian was very fond of the youth aspect of our association, field days, provincial meetings, CAA General meetings, he spoke countless times all over the country and his message was always heart felt and positive about our breed. These are the times that I was fortunate enough to make many miles with Brian and others to different events. conversations and be so involved with the people if even for the 24 hours he was in that area. So many good times and memories were had, it’s hard to remember them all. One in particular was one of my first trips with Brian to the Kamloops Spring Bull Sale. Brian and I left Calgary late because we were both running late, he had to give a speech that night to the consignors and the BC Angus people that were there in attendance. He did fore warn me that sometimes these meetings could get a little heated, but laughed and said it will be fine. We arrived in the nick of time supper was being served at the cafeteria at the Kamloops Stockyards. It was a great meal, then it was time for Brian to bring greetings from the Association and go through some of the new ideas that were being brought forth to help our breeders. I thought things were going well, then all of a sudden, a breeder stood up and said, “well since you guys in Calgary know everything, when is the Association going to help me fill out my CAIS forms” This was a government program at the time and had nothing to do with the Association, but I could tell this fella was very serious. Brian turned and looked over at me gave me a smirk and a small WTF eyeroll. I am sorry but I got up and out of there because I couldn’t stop laughing. Thankfully not many people noticed my predicament. I snuck out the back for a breath of fresh air, all the while thinking how in the hell is Goody going to get out of this one. Well of course he did and we got back to the hotel unscathed had a couple of drinks and a damn good laugh and called it a night.

The next day was sale day as we all know this is a very important day for all of us in this business. There wasn’t a big crowd at the sale and the breeders were nervous. However, the quality of the bulls on offer was pretty strong. Brian commented to a couple we were visiting with, don’t worry the ranchers need bulls this year, you will be fine. We headed in to get seats for the sale and what would happen next still makes me laugh to this day. As said the night before we got there a little late and went straight to the supper line, I paid for my supper and carried on, well I guess Brian probably figured he was the guest speaker for the night he probably should be ok to have supper on the house. Not so much, as we were in the now full lobby of the auction mart the older lady that operated the cafeteria came quickly over to Brian and rather loudly stated. “Are you the young man that didn’t pay for his supper last night?” Brian’s reaction was priceless, needless to say he paid for his supper I could not stop laughing all the way back to Calgary. That’s just how it was with Brian never a dull moment always a fun time and the people of all walks of life were important to him.

Much of my time with him was travelling to and from BC. His fondness of the history of the many great and beautiful historic ranches in the province was a real passion for him. As I said before he knew just about everyone, so I was lucky to tag along with others and see Douglas Lake, Alkali Lake Ranch, and many others, Williams Lake Bull Sale, Kamloops Bull Sale, and the BC Cattleman Conventions held through out the province. I also got to meet many BC Angus breeders both large and small operators and get to know them and learn a great deal about ranching in BC. Brian was also instrumental in organizing a lot of our overseas Exports with live cattle, working mainly with his good friends Gary Smith, Kate Kolstead, Roger Peters to name a few. I remember him talking about a trip made to Russia with many of his fellow herd association representatives to make presentations about the quality of our Canadian cattle. I must say this must have been a very good time had by all. Sounded to me like a lot of vodka and red wine was consumed, many different events, some lack luster travel arrangements and accommodations, but a hell of a lot of fun camaraderie and friendships were made by all who were there and took part in the process and it was a success as many thousands of Canadian cattle, mainly Angus but of all breeds were exported to Russia and neighboring countries. Brian said he was never so happy to get back home after that once in a lifetime trip.

One of his final trips overseas in 2018 or 2019 was to China with his fellow breed representatives, I believe there was 12 of them in all. The tab was picked up by the Chinese Government for Brian and his counter parts to give their pitch for there respective breeds to the Chinese producers. Bruce Holmquist gave me a little insight to one of the presentation meetings. Both him and Brian got up to give their presentation about their breeds, Simmental and Angus. Things were going well until one little Chinese guy stood up and told Bruce Black & White cattle were considered bad luck in China, then the same guy stood up after Brian’s presentation and said Black Angus cattle were crazy. All Bruce said was Brian turned to his fellow presenters with his patented raised eyebrow and smirk and a little shake of his head and they all bust out laughing.

Brian also travelled extensively in the United States, he really like the Denver Stock Show for many years Denver was the place to be in early January for all things purebred. He had many good friends in the states. While at Denver Brian noticed a lot of good Angus cattle being shown by Express Ranches, he knew that I had worked with them when I was younger and had sourced a lot of genetics there so he said I think I want to come with you to their Bull Sale in March, so we made the arrangements. Express is a one-of-a-kind operation and I could tell Brain was impressed by the cattle for sure, but also the people that worked there. I was honored to introduce him to the owner Mr. Bob Funk and manager Jarold Callahan. Some very good discussions were had the afternoon before the sale. Jarold invited us to his house that evening for a little social, Brian loved it. There was an old country singer there named Buck, he could sing or play all of the good old country music that Brian loved and of course had sung and played himself with his band up home. After a few glasses of wine and a great meal, I fondly remember Brian and Bill Davis, Director and I believe past president of the American Angus Association arm in arm singing along to Buck, it was a great time.

The sale the next day was a great one over 500 bulls sold for a very nice $8000 average. Brian really enjoyed seeing a crowd full of commercial bull buyers, buying volumes of bulls and the sale was done very professionally and in a very rapid pace. My friends at Express always asked me how Brian was doing and what he was up to after that quick visit.

One final story I think is a great example of Brian’s quick wit and ingenuity, some of you may remember Brian and his friends Nate Marrin and Rose Currie decided one spring that we should start an elite show chicken group. Brian and Nate were in charge of selling the shares and purchasing the chickens. The big show was held in Vermilion at the Vermilion summer fair in July. I must say the promotion that went into this venture was extensive. I never did find out how many shares were sold or how much cash was collected. I’m sure it was a sizable amount. Well, as luck would have it where the chickens were being housed, they got out of the pen and were promptly killed by coyote’s or dogs, you would think that would be the end of the story, but not quite. by the stall and talked to Shelly & I, he said with a twinkle in his eye, we better have a chicken party for the show chicken group. I kind of laughed and said sure what do you want to do. He said Shelly and I will handle it and off they went, but he said you guys get the word out to everyone. So, we got the word out to come by the stall for a show chicken party. There was about 40 or 50 people there when Shelly and Brain showed up with several buckets of KFC chicken and several gallon jugs of the cheapest porch climbing red wine you could imagine. Well needless to say we all had a great laugh and a tremendous time that night, but none of us in the show chicken group to this day have any idea how many shares were sold.

I could talk for hours about the fun and adventures we had as I know all of us that knew him could.

Recently Brian and my good friend Chub Lundago came to the LMAC held in Lloydminster in early May. We had an amazing time; Brian was once again in his element it was so good to see him back in form. So, when I got a call from another good friend Grant Rolston, that our dear Goody wasn’t too good I was shocked.

Finally, my heart goes out to Lynanne and his wonderful family. Thank you all for giving so much of Brian’s time to us all. He truly is one of a kind.

To my fellow cattlemen and women let’s all remember to give thanks for knowing this tremendous man. The stories should continue around the tack box and the Sale Barns about Brian Good, for our children and grandchildren need to know about a cowboy’s life extremely well lived.

Thank you,

Jon Fox