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Greetings!
Once again it is my turn to write
my thoughts for the Network and as usual I waited for the
deadline to do so. I considered many different topics in the
last couple of days but all of them were redundant to other
articles that have been written here in the past, i.e. bull
sales were good in California this Fall, make sure you sell good
ones in consignment sales, the breed is fairing well given the
challenges we have faced in the last year and so on. Instead I
have chosen an entirely different subject so please bear with my
ramblings. I truly believe
that the most important thing you can do in this breed and in
life is build strong relationships. In my years of being
involved with livestock the thing I treasure most are the
acquaintances I have made. Never would I have had the
opportunity to meet and interact with such a large group of
people if it weren’t for my involvement in this business.
I have met, competed against,
and done business with some of the legends of our breed as well
as some that I maybe wish I could forget. I am just old enough
to remember some of the great Scotsmen herdsmen from the fifties
and sixties. I also met and worked around some of the most
noteworthy that were from the USA as well. Men like Charlie
Ryan, Art Stienweden, Joe Lewis and Francis “Billy” Normile to
name a few. I also was fortunate enough to meet some of the more
interesting characters from the past that are probably long
forgotten by many. Men like “Sputnik” and “Freight Train” who
traveled the show circuit, however in today’s society would be
considered homeless and a threat to society and never allowed to
be around any public facility.
I could continue through the next
few decades and name many more people that are considered the
new young guns in our business, however I won’t bore you with
more old nostalgia or current events. Just remember there are
always pieces of these relationships that you can take and use
for your own profile and your mental data base.
From all of these people there
was always something to be learned whether it be good, bad or
not worth anything. All of these relationships have built who I
am, and as you all meet and interact with people remember that
they too will help make you into who you are. This is especially
true to all who are starting out in this business or are young
and building your own future.
During these past years I have
seen many people in our business come and go and sometimes I
have seen some that I thought would be in the “five to seven
year and gone program” continue to be in this business for many
years. My point being is to always try and build some sort of
rapport with folks that you might not care for at the time,
because you never know when you may cross paths again or have
the opportunity to do business with them.
Thank you for reading my
thoughts and I hope that you were amused or enlightened by at
least one of my memories. Please remember we are all in this
business together and it is our job to always tell our story to
those who are not, so we all can continue to be here for the
future. Remember there are those among us that are opposed to
animal agriculture and would like nothing more then to see us
all go away!
Jim Vietheer
WSAA Director
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