2021 Wall of Fame Inductees
Cow: EDR V I Angie Melvina EX-93 GMD DOM Todd Stanek traveled to the EDR Dispersal in Palmyra on March 24, 1992, having never met the Ron and Doris Marsh family or seen Melvina in person. His interest in Melvina was not that she had been a successful show cow but that she was a high scored cow that had a high index. The pictures he had seen of Melvina made him believe that she was a cow with strength to burn and that he could mate her to the big time milk and protein bulls of that time to try to make bulls for A.I. Stanek was blown away by her high, wide rear udder and her strength. Melvina became his first big time purchase of a Registered Holstein and time has proven this to be a good choice. Like a lot of cow stories, this one has a few twists and turns to it. While at the sale, Stanek could tell it was a hard day for the Marsh girls and he offered to leave Melvina with the girls and not transfer ownership until they had shown Melvina one more time at the spring show. They took him up on his offer, with Stanek traveling to the spring show to take her home afterwards. At the time of the sale, Melvina was confirmed pregnant to Blackstar. When Stanek arrived at the spring show and walked into the barn where she was stalled, the Marsh girls saw him and started crying. Melvina had lost the Blackstar pregnancy and was in heat and would not be shown that day. Stanek assured them that this was ok – he had purchased Melvina to flush her and this was great because he could take her home and start to flush her right away. Melvina turned out to be a great flush cow. Her first flush was to Mascot and made 25 good embryos. The result of that flush was four daughters that were the best two-year-olds in the barn at Our Favorite Holsteins. They scored 85, 86, 87 and 88 and they made the two-yearold milk records we ever had. Those four young cows brought the world to Our-Favorite Holsteins. The Melvina cow family has consistently, generation after generation, produced the best cows in the Stanek’s barn. Their logo and advertising slogan is “Our-Favorite Holsteins - Home of the Melvinas”. Currently over 70 percent of the herd are Melvinas. One of the Mascots from that first flush anchors the branch of the cow family that is going strong today. Our-Favorite Unlimited, EX-94, is the latest Melvina to bring the world to the farm and her EX-94 Doorman daughter, Endless, is turning out to be a great brood cow. This family has produced the popular sires Undenied, Mafia, On Point and Union and many heifers that are at the top of the PTA type lists. While Our Favorite Holsteins has certainly made “Melvina” well-
EDR V I Angie Melvina EX-93 GMD DOM
known worldwide, the Marsh family that bred Melvina considers her maternal pedigree to be just as influential. Melvina’s pedigree stems from a heifer purchased back several generations and the “Angelas” produced the best cows in their barn every generation, just like it has done for the Staneks. She was sired by Mel-Est Valiant Iros Melvin, a young sire that Ron Marsh used because he was $5 and he used young sire semen to save money. Melvin became a proven bull and Melvina his signature daughter. Melvina was a growthy heifer that the Marsh family showed and did well but didn’t win. She really blossomed when she calved as a threeyear-old. She was Reserve Grand Champion at the 1990 Wisconsin Spring Show and went on to be named Reserve Junior All-American Senior 3-Year-Old. Melvina scored EX-93 3E and earned GMD and DOM honors. In today’s world, they would say she was too big. At her thinnest, Stanek hauled her to town and she weighed in at 2085 pounds. But to this day, Melvina is the most graceful cow he has worked with. She lived in a stall, went out every day like all the other cows and never took a wrong step. Stanek states, “It was an honor and a privilege to get to work with Melvina. One cow can make a hell of a difference in your life. I want to congratulate the Marsh family for breeding such a great cow and thank them for sharing her with me.”
Bull: Sunnyside Standout-Twin VG-85 GM Sunnyside Standout was born in 1962 at Sunnyside Farms, owned by the Borgwardt family of Valders. He went into service at Tri-State Breeders in Westby, Wisconsin, later to be known as Accelerated Genetics. It is not a requirement that Wall of Fame bulls be born in a Wisconsin herd, rather it is required that they have passed the test time and are greatly appreciated by Wisconsin Holstein breeders. Standout checks all of the boxes. He was born in a Wisconsin breeder’s herd, was housed at a Wisconsin AI stud, and had thousands of highly appreciated daughters in many Wisconsin herds. Standout was born to not just any herd. The Borgwardt family has provided exemplary leadership to the Wisconsin Holstein Association for generations, including Todd and Susan Borgwardt, who continue to operate Sunnyside Dairy Farms today. For many years Todd’s grand30 – Wisconsin Holstein News – November 2021
father, Elroy Borgwardt, was Wisconsin’s national Holstein board representative. Elroy’s sons, Roger and Bill, were also active in WHA and both served as WHA President. In the July 10, 1978 Standout Issue of the Holstein World, Elroy Borgwardt stated “Standout didn’t just happen. He was bred to sire offspring that are profitable for production along with desirable type.” At Tri-State Breeders, Standout had at least 11,000 daughters in his production proof in nearly 3,000 herds and over 5,000 daughters classified. We know that proofs erode over time, but at the time, Standout was an exceptional production bull with sound type, just as Elroy said he had been bred to be. The road to success for Standout was not an easy one. Marlowe Nelson contracted his dam, later to be a 93 point cow, for Tri-State,
