My tremendous thanks to Carla Malson for all her work with the juniors and pulling together one of the largest attended junior nights in its history. Carla has been the backbone of so many of the junior and auxiliary events for many years. Thank you to my talented wonderful neighbors Kathy Rose and Dee Dee Berry for pulling together the beautiful show ring that provided the perfect back drop for our spectacular show. These folks all volunteer their time and talents to make the WNAF so special. I want to thank the WNAF committee members and WSAA officers and directors for taking their jobs seriously and devoting their time and energies to keeping the Futurity the special western event that it has become.

I want to congratulate all of this year’s winners and single out a few as I go along. My special congratulations to Mel Hansen on having this year’s show being dedicated to him. He was an excellent choice and it was extremely moving to watch him receive this special honor. I want to thank his family and friends who played such a special role in making this come together. Congratulations to Michelle Malson on her selection as the new Western States Angus Queen. It has been a pleasure to watch Michelle grow up before our eyes, plus she will represent the Western States extremely well. Congratulations to the Creamer family on being selected to receive the coveted Herdsmen award; it couldn’t go to a more deserving group of people.

I need to also pause for a moment and thank all of you that stepped up and sponsored the awards for the 2010 show. Without your support, the show would really be lacking, and a special word of thanks to the Traynham family for their sponsorship of the Herdsman belt buckle in memory of a true western Angus legend Cookie Traynham. I want to also make mention of the team that helps Jim and myself keep it all on track, to Sheila Stamnas who does a tremendous job as your show secretary and to Robert Bianchi who is on the frontlines making sure that every task gets accomplished. I want to thank James Fisher who takes the time from his busy schedule to be here and serve as our announcer for the show and every other job in between. I want to thank Wendy Hall and her assistant Dena for making this show even better for just being here, and the remarkable photos she captures of our champions.

I want to say thanks to our exhibitors that traveled the long distances. I want to thank the exhibitors that were so understanding of the very full barn and did their best with the space we had to work with. I thank those exhibitors that took the time to know the rules and to follow them without complaint. I want to commend our exhibitors for handling the unstable weather conditions so well, as evidenced by the photo on this page of the duck enjoying the tie-outs. I thank the exhibitors that understood that the rules are in place for everyone and not something that the management team invented to make their lives difficult. In the spirit of thanks I have to say a special thanks to our WNAF judge Shane Lindsey from Prairie City, IA for his tremendous job of judging and talking about his selections and the cattle, favorable comments were heard from every rank. Thank you to Jeannie Yardley of Beaver, Utah for serving as judge of the largest junior show to date.

It was a great event, and it was one of the best yet at least until next year.

Until next month…