Alberta Angus Association Meets at Last!

Second attempt was a charm for the Alberta Angus Association annual meeting (the first scheduled date in December was cancelled due to weather). Attendance was down some due to calving and other commitments as AAA President Darren Hipkin chaired the procedings. An interested group listened to good financial news all round - both from the Alberta Association and regarding the World Angus Forum.

New directors elected to the Alberta Board were Carolyn Congdon, Blake McMillan and Richard Latimer. Laurie Hunter and Ricki Fleming were re-elected for another term. Doug Newton retired from the board and was thanked for his service.

Ben MacLeod is this year's Honourary President. Doug Reid was honoured with the Cecile Fleming Spirit of Angus Award for his service to the Association and the successful Alberta WAF bid. John Lee also received a special WAF belt buckle from the Alberta Association for his dedication as the WAF Chairman. Emily Pugh won the Dorothy Banks scholarship.

Two Canadian Directors from Alberta had terms that were up and both Cecilie Fleming and Gary Latimer were acclaimed to another 3 year term.

Notes: Many of the usual awards will be made later in the year - Breed Builder, Contemporary Breeder, 25 year awards, etc. Talk around the coffee urn and lunch table centered around the fantastic showing from Canadian cattle and breeders south of the border.

WAF momentum carries over to Denver

The interest and momentum created by the World Angus Forum 2009 in Canada has carried over to the Denver National Western Stock Show with reports of high interest and great sales of Canadian genetics filtering in. The showing by Canadians thus far has been extraordinary - all four Grand Champions in the Red Show were exhibited and/or bred by Canadian breeders. The Black Bull Show saw two division winners including the Reserve Grand Champion.
UPDATE: Capping off this success was Soo Line Cattle Co. winning Grand Champion in the Black Angus Pen Show.
Kinda makes you get just a little bit excited about where Canadian genetics can go from here, doesn't it?
Links to all the results can be found at EverythingAngus.com