Spring Newsletter
Volume 9, Issue 2 - March, 2003

From Your President, Harold Harpster:

I hope this spring newsletter finds all B&B members bidding farewell (or good riddance!) to winter and looking forward to a full schedule of enjoyable spring activities! Many chapters are busily planning for their annual livestock shows and the return of many alumni to campus. I have always felt that one of the greatest advantages for belonging to a Block and Bridle Club is the life-long friendships that are made and cherished over the years! One truly has the feeling of belonging to a family during college and that feeling continues long after graduation! While we bid a fond farewell to all our graduating seniors, we ask that you don’t forget to "give something back" after graduation and do what you can to help those students that will follow in your footsteps.

The 83rd National Block and Bridle Convention, hosted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute is now history and by all measures was a great success! Dr. Cindy Wood, student co-chairs Stephanie Smith and Abbe Jacobs, conference coordinator Emmett Wright, and all the members of the VPI chapter deserve our sincere appreciation for a job well done! It’s also important to note the countless hours of help from many others "behind the scenes" including all the judges of our competitive events, speakers, tour coordinators, financial contributors, and many others. Our national convention is a massive undertaking that truly requires a team effort! Being in our nation’s capital was an interesting change of pace from our more traditional convention locations and feedback from attendees has been very positive.

While we are on the convention subject plan now to attend the 84th meeting in San Antonio, Texas, February 19-21, 2004 (note the date change from that announced in DC). Dr. Jodi Sterle and the students of the Texas A&M chapter are planning what is sure to be a fun and educational experience for all members. Headquarters will be the first-rate Adam’s Mark Hotel "on the Riverwalk". You won’t want to miss San Antonio in February so watch for further details and mark your calendars now! I should also mention that we are extremely fortunate to have two chapters actively preparing to host the 2005 and 2006 conventions. How about your chapter in 2007?

The Collegiate Livestock Leader’s Institute will soon be in full swing, with nine outstanding future leaders of the beef industry attending both ASAS and NCBA meetings this summer (among other educational events). We are extremely proud of this program which has been so ably led by our national editor, Dr. Nevil Speer. However, like our national convention, outstanding programs like the CLLI require significant funding and in these uncertain economic times we must continue to plan for the future. It would be wonderful if we could ensure their continued success by establishing an endowment of some type. We welcome any and all ideas from students and faculty alike!

Please remember that a number of important deadlines are coming up very soon. Applications for many of our competitive events must be submitted in June, typically after classes have ended and students begin their summer activities. Make sure your chapter has completed this work before dispersing for the summer. While we have excellent submissions for all our competitions, we need to encourage more entries! The national web site is a great source of information that contains all the details needed to be up to date! Be sure to take special note of the new rules governing the chapter web site competition as enacted by the delegates during the DC convention.

A special note to advisors – If you will be attending the ASAS / ADSA meetings in Phoenix this summer please remember to register for the B&B Advisor’s Meeting. The national officers have decided to forego a luncheon with this traditional meeting to cut expenses. We hope you will support this meeting and take the opportunity to meet our CLLI finalists! Also, please encourage your colleagues at other institutions to establish a local chapter with the national organization if one does not presently exist.

Finally, a personal thank-you to our national officers, Drs. Moore, Wood, and Speer for their unselfish dedication to Block and Bridle. Each has made an eight-year commitment to the organization and deserves our thanks.

Have a great spring and a wonderful summer!!

83^rd National Block & Bridle Convention
January 23 - 26, 2003 in Washington, D.C.

January 23-26, 2003 culminated nearly two years of planning by the Virginia Tech chapter to host the 83^rd National Block and Bridle Convention in Washington, D.C. Although the original Committee Co-chairs, Gwen Gilmore and Bart Kite, carried the torch for the initial year of planning, a mammoth amount of work was done by the two individuals to whom the torch was passed: Stephanie Smith and Abbe Jacobs. The slogan for convention was "From the Mountains to the Sea". It was fitting that the slogan represented not only the diversity of Virginia, but also the 540 attendees from 44 chapters representing 33 states.

To kick off the convention on Thursday evening was the business meeting, conducted by the National Officers. Virginia Tech is proud to be represented by Dr. Cindy Wood as National Secretary-Treasurer. Following the business meeting was the first of two dances.

Friday morning started with an early breakfast, followed by the educational segment of the convention. That session was kicked off with a welcome by Dr. Mark McCann, Department Head of Animal and Poultry Sciences. Students next learned about making money through an energetic tag-team presentation by Drs. Dave Kohl and Alex White. The keynote address for the convention dealt with current political issues in agriculture, and was presented by Dr. H. Dean Sutphin, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Breakout sessions were then conducted for the remainder of the morning. They focused on a variety of issues facing agriculture today – from lobbying, to bioterrorism, to niche marketing. The highlight of the morning for many attendees was the presentation that Dr. Bill Beal gave on what makes cows tick. Friday afternoon and evening gave attendees the opportunity to meet their congressional delegations and/or to sightsee in D.C.

Saturday morning arrived early for everyone as buses departed between 6 AM and 8:15 AM for eight different tours. Students had the opportunity to choose among tours visiting farms centered around Lancaster or Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; a Maryland tour that visited the Wye plantation; tours in Virginia that traveled to Winchester, Middleburg, and Harrisonburg, and a research tour in the D.C. area. When all tours arrived back after a whirlwind day, the awards banquet commenced. The finale for the evening was the second dance of the convention, and the following a morning a Cowboy Church was held for all those who wished to attend, with the message presented by Matt Hickey, a Virginia Tech Block and Bridle member.

The 84^th National Convention will be in San Antonio, Texas next year. With the very positive response that Virginia Tech received from our efforts this year, there will undoubtedly be another convention in the years to come that this Chapter will host. Until then, however, we can be thankful that this experience was completed with an exclamation point, and look forward to chapter life returning to its normal self.

Collegiate Livestock Leaders Institute
Nevil Speer, Editor / Chair: CLLI

The Collegiate Livestock Leaders Institute (CLLI) enjoyed another successful session during the Summer of 2002. The 10 awardees were:

Samantha Cunningham, Texas Tech Univ.
Jennifer Flinchbaugh, Penn State Univ.
Landon Gates, Colorado State Univ.
Sandra Gruber, Ohio State Univ.
Beth Mink, Virginia Tech
Erin Morrow, Texas A&M Univ.
David Newsom, Western Kentucky Univ.
Mark Perrier, Kansas State Univ.
Laura Unrue, CalPoly SLO (Calif. State Polytechnic Univ., San Louis Obispo)
Joel York, Illinois State

NCBA, as always, served to be a wonderful host during Summer Conference in Reno and allowed for opportunities to interact with various industry leaders, participate in member sessions, and facilitated several special sessions for CLLI. From Reno everyone traveled to Quebec City for the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) meetings. CLLI awardees were involved with a special day-long session designed to address various issues within the industry. Additionally, time allowed for sitting in on other sessions of interest.

CLLI awardees for 2003 are:

Jaime Bard, Ohio State University
Malinda Burkhard, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Ryan Conway, Kansas State University
Cade Davis , Utah State University
Shanna Hutchison, University of Arkansas
McKenzie Keedy, University of Missouri-Columbia
Bart Kite, Virginia Tech
Jesse Savell, University of Florida
Nicholas Urbanek, Penn State University

This year’s CLLI program will be traveling to Phoenix in June for the ASAS meetings while visiting Dallas in July for NCBA’s Summer Conference.

As a special note, Dr. Jessica Gentry will be serving as co-Chair of the program beginning in 2003. We look forward to working with Jessica and are fortunate to have her leadership for this program. Special thanks to ASAS and NCBA; they have proven to be wonderful partners and dedicated supporters!

See National Award Rules (http://www.blockandbridle.org/yearly.htm) for details.

ASAS Meetings:

The 2003 ASAS Meetings will be held this year in Phoenix, AZ (a month earlier than normal) from Sunday, June 22 through Thursday, June 26. Attention advisors! The B and B Advisors Meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 25. In contrast to previous years, there is no fee associated with attendance. Please be certain that you can participate!

A complete listing of forms, programs, and updates can be found at www. asas.org.

Your National Officers

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