The 2015 National Red & White Convention was held in Decorah, Iowa in the beautiful rolling hills of Northeast Iowa from July 14-16, 2015.The week started on Tuesday, July 14 with farm tours. We were able to visit four different farms in Northeast Iowa. The day started at Lyons Holsteins (Doug & Lynnette Lyons Family) of Castalia, Iowa which is home to 125 registered Holsteins, 58 cows and 67 heifers, with all being Red or Red Carriers except for 29 head. Doug is currently serving as RWDCA Board of Director. Our second stop was to Henkeseen Holsteins (Trent & Leslie Henkes Family) of Luana, Iowa. At Henkeseen, they milk 65 registered Holsteins where one-fourth of them are Red and White. This is a 6th generation family dairy farm. The third stop of the day was to Rolling Prairie Guernseys (Dan & Ann Walther Family) of Garnavillo, Iowa. This Guernsey herd is the oldest active Guernsey herd in the state of Iowa. The Walther family milks 200+ registered Guernseys in a double 12 DeLaval parlor which was built in 2004. Our final stop of the day was to Regancrest Farm of Waukon, Iowa. Sheri Regan-Danhof welcomed the group. Regancrest was established in 1951 and are currently milking 800 cows. Tuesday ended with a meal hosted by Doug & Lynnette Lyons family.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 was a big day as it was the 2015 National Red and White Convention Show. 25 beautiful Red and Whites paraded in the ring for official judge Hank Van Exel of Lodi, California. Junior Champion of the Junior Show went to Straussdale BAR Dreamy-Red (1st Fall Calf) for Mariah & Carly Strauss of Lake Mills, WI. Following in reserve was Lyons-DL Crown Georgene-Red (1st Winter Calf) for Michael Lyons of Castalia, IA. Junior Champion of the Open Show went to Oakfield ABS Emelia-Red-ET (1st Spring Yearling) for John Diersen of Caledonia, MN. Reserve Champion honors went to Straussdale BAR Dreamy- Red. Intermediate Champion of the Junior Show was awarded to Lyons-DL Chger Twizzler-Red (1st Senior- Three-Year-Old) for Michael Lyons and Reserve Champion went to Paulinn PSC Meme 919-Red-TW (2nd Senior-Three-Year-Old) for Alan Kruse of Dyersville, IA. Rounding out the young cow classes, Intermediate Champion went to Willow-Marsh Sundance-Red (1st Senior-Three-Old) for Norman Nabholz of West Union, IA and Reserve went to Lyons-DL Chger Twizzler-Red. Senior Champion of both the Junior and Open Shows went to Rosedale 2 Hot 2 Handle-Red (1st Four Year Old) from Carley Krull of Lake Mills, WI and Reserve went to New-Star ADV Hillary-Red (1st Aged Cow) from Jennifer Huhe of Cresco, IA. Grand Champion of the Junior Show was also presented to Rosedale 2 Hot 2 Handle-Red and Reserve went to Lyons-DL Chger Twizzler-Red. Grand Champion honors of the Open Show was presented to Willow-Marsh Sundance-Red and Reserve went to Rosedale 2 Hot 2 Handle-Red. Premier Breeder and Exhibitor banners were presented to Lyons Holsteins of Castalia, Iowa.
Wednesday evening ended with the Annual Membership Meeting and Banquet. Guest speakers for the annual banquet included Chrisitna-Joh. Paulsen-Schluter (President of European Red Dairy Breed), Graeme Hamilton (President of Australian Red Dairy Breed) and David Pierson (President-Elect of National Dairy Shrine).
At the annual banquet all of the awards were presented to 25+ year members, 40+ year members, All-American and Junior All-American winners, Essay Contest Winners, the RWDCA Awards and many more. 25+ year members include Stephen Collins, Albert & Mary Etta Lenkaitis, Brian Campbell, Rod-Er-Dic Farm (Roger & Paul Meyer), Dean & Julie Milz, Glen-Toctin Farm, Jim & Cheri Summerfield, Antrim Spring Farms (Rodney Crider), John & Vicki King, Jr., Charles Garrison, Robert Prueter, and Ray Hess. 40+ year members are Jerry & Lyle Fraaza, ABS Global Inc., the late Juanda Prelle, and Dennis Bressner.
The Junior Essay Contest winners were announced and Hannah Hensel of Pittsville, WI was the winner of the Junior division and Sarah Thomas of Pittsboro, NC was the winner of the Intermediate division. The Albrecht Memorial Scholarships were presented to Mikayla Bailey, Ashley Mohn and Hannah Van Dyk. The 2015 National Red and White Queen was crowned and we are pleased to announce that Carley Krull of Lake Mills, WI will represent the RWDCA this next year. Taylor Jirousek of Owatonna, MN was announced at the 2015 National Red and White Queen Alternate.
The 2015 Breeder awards were presented at the end of the night. The Don Albrecht Distinguished Service Award was presented to Gary Janssen of Illinois, the Larry Moore Master Breeder Award was presented Cleland Holsteins of Wisconsin, the J.P. "Doc" Ostrander Young Breeder Award was given to Matt & Mandy Nunes of Wisconsin, the Junior Breeder Award was presented to Michael Lyons of Iowa and finally the Gary Mayhew Keystone Award was presented to Jerry Good of Michigan.
The final item at the banquet was the announcement of the new RWDCA Board of Directors. Gary Janssen was elected for another term, Sarah Wendorf and Bonnie Van Dyk both of Wisconsin are newly elected Board of Directors.
The last day of the 51st National Red and White Convention concluded with the National Red and White Convention Sale. Scott Courtney of Courtney Sales was the sale manager whereas Roger Turner read pedigrees and Chris Hill was at the gavel. The sale averaged on 72 live lots, $3.425. Top seller of the day was Lot 13 at
$12,200: Ms Roll-N-View Althea-Red-ET VG-86 (Special Effect-P from a VG-87 Shottle out of Apple EX-96- 3E-DOM) She was consigned by Lee Emerson and Nick Raggi, Delaware and purchased by Milk Source, LLC of Kaukauna, Wisconsin.
The RWDCA would like to thank all who was involved with the 2015 National Red and White Convention especially Doug & Lynnette Lyons, Trent & Leslie Henkes and Glenn Ohloff. We really need to thank all of the sponsors and donors because without you this convention would not have been a hit! The RWDCA would like to invite everyone to the 52nd National Red and White Convention which will be held in Westminster, Maryland during the days of July 7-9, 2016.
Founded in 1964, the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association has been located in Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania since 1975, Clinton, Wisconsin since 2009 and Madison, Wisconsin since 2015. The RWDCA strives to encourage and promote the progressive breeding and development of superior Red & White Dairy Cattle by providing breeders with information, programs, and services to help track, evaluate, and improve the breed from one generation to the next. The Association is based on the principle of an open herdbook and currently serves members domestically and internationally. For additional information, you may contact the RWDCA at 608-289-8586 or 608-790-5595 or visit www.redandwhitecattle.com.
7.22.2015