From the MHA President Reed ’s Ramblings

Hello there,

Having just been elected president of the Michigan Holstein Association on Sat., Feb. 11., Melissa Hart informed me my first article for this magazine needed to be completed by Tues., Feb. 14. I know for some this would be simple task. For me writing has never come easy, but thank the Lord for spell check, and a few editors who slapped some lipstick on this pig. (I am sure the nuns from my childhood at St. Paul Catholic School are looking down on me and laughing about this.)

My parents, Isabel and Earl Reed, bought a farm in 1948 where they milked 20 grade cows and raised nine kids. After high school I purchased my first registered cows—it wasn’t much but it was a start. My wonderful wife, Elaine, and I raised four great children. When they were young, our friend, Michele (Gilna) Lennamen, involved them in the Dairy Go-Getters 4-H club. Our family has been showing in county, state, and national shows ever since.

My first term as president began with a successful Michigan Holstein Association Annual Meeting, held at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant. The structure of the annual meeting with the addition of a virtual sale and consignments was new this year and I thought it turned out great!

The activities kicked off on Friday, Feb. 10 with our first virtual sale, put on by Chad Kreeger and his crew. Our sales committee, lead by George Bush, provided consignments. Michigan Dairy Cattle News Editor, Melissa Hart, dug through our archives to display the MHA’s old magazines and photographs. It was great to see young and old alike put their phones down and look through these historic documents. Of course, the beer was cold and that was pretty good also.

The following morning began with a very nice breakfast and a thought provoking talk from Kim Bremmer of Wisconsin on being an informed and involved producer. The presentation was followed by the Michigan Jersey Cattle Club and Michigan Holstein Association meetings. The highlight of the MHA meeting was honoring our friends during the awards ceremony. This year we had the pleasure of honoring Max Dunseth with the Distinguished Service Award. Joe Kulhawick gave Max a nice introduction and Max offered some introspective thoughts on his years as a MHA representative. Max then presented our Master Breeder Award winner, Gary Wieber, and the Wayne Webster Young Breeder Award winner, Adam Preston.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this annual meeting a success! Please feel free to contact me or any of the board members and let us know what you think.

Looking at the year ahead, we have an outstanding young board that wants to “moove” this organization forward. The committees are invigorated and are proposing many new ideas. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to work in this environment.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for electing me to this position. I thank my predecessor, Brent Moyer, for his time and dedication over the past three years. His innovative ideas have been a driving force in many successful endeavors, such as the Golden Ticket fundraiser and numerous others. I would also like to thank Suzanne Tuttila for her 20 years of dedicated service to the Michigan Holstein Association. Lastly, I want to thank those that have come before us and put us in such a great position, both structurally and financially.

I don’t know what Sister Rosemary thought about this column, but it was better than getting whacked with her ruler.

Thanks again and until next time, may the sun shine upon you and the wind be at your back.