At the 2018 Fort Worth stock show and rodeo. The youth
organizations of Texas Hereford and Polled Hereford Breeds held their meetings.
This meeting was orchestrated was set up to plan a merger of the youth Hereford
groups in Texas. The Texas Hereford and Polled Hereford associations are unique
in a few aspects. Even with many kids belonging to each association, both groups
have their own set of leadership. There is a President with officers, directors
and advisors on both sides of the isle, Horned and Polled Associations. This is organizational and leadership opportunities
for almost four dozen kids.
Here is the issue with the entire scenario. The problem is
the way this was brought about to the meeting. The meeting was orchestrated to
get a desired result. The meeting agenda was set by a few people who DID NOT
notify the Managers of either association in Texas. The meeting was set up
without ALL the advisors of both the Horned and Polled Hereford Junior Associations
being notified of what was going on. The Juniors that are members of both
associations voted 2 times in the meeting. People were noted in the PRE-TYPED
minutes for making motions that they did not make and later voted against motion
when an actual vote was called. Which I believe is an issue when it comes to parliamentary
procedures. There was a small group of people working to make the decisions for
the masses. This is NOT how we do business. This is NOT how you run a junior
organization.
If the youth want to take a straight up vote to merge, that
is fine. Please take them into separate rooms and each can debate and vote for
the merger. I am ALL FOR letting the kids decide the fate of their organizations.
I have not named anyone in this piece and I don’t intend to
call anyone out. That is not my style. I will say this though, to those of you
that organized and orchestrated this meeting on a merger. You should be
ashamed. You did not even tell the two men that manage each of the associations.
You let them go into that meeting blindsided. That is wrong. You let older youth
push their agenda on the younger youth where advisors and parents would have
been able to help and explain so they can understand and make an informed decision.
An educated guess on my part says this is being pushed by the
American Hereford Association. Texas is the last state to not merge. Texas puts
on their junior state show in the summer with over 300 head of cattle. They typically
have one of the largest groups of cattle and Kids at the National Junior
Hereford Expo each summer. Texas kids get to sell steers in Dallas, Ft Worth
and Houston in separate breeds. They get to show in separate shows. San Antonio
is the only combined show in Texas. San Antonio also gives a $10,000 scholarship
to each breed champion. That is A LOT of scholarship money kids miss out on
already. There are a lot of steer exhibitors and even heifer exhibitors that
would suffer if those shows decided to combine.
If the merger does happen there will be tons of support for
the Horned and Polled Hereford youth in the state of Texas. We are proud of the
kids in this state and want ALL of them to succeed. What we need to do is make
sure that we as adults have not altered their futures by forcing an agenda that
is not agreed upon by everyone involved.
“The
greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not
money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy
of character and faith.” ~ Billy Graham
Well my friend we both know the best thing. The best thing the leadership can do is leave the association in a better situation for the next group of leaders. The big questions are these a) how would a merger effect the scholarship opportunities? b) how would it inevitably impact the separation of the shows in Texas. We have 2 very large junior shows and to lose that would impact the sale of both horned and polled cattle in this state. I mean to a kid showing why buy a hereford and be 10th in a combined show when you could buy a red angus and be 2ed. It would definately hurt us all to lose this advantage. C) How do we build leaders for the next generation in a combined scenario? With 2 associations there is more opportunity for leadership. This could be amended and more kids could be put on commities. I agree it was not handled very professionally. The worst was the fact that certain kids didn't get to speak because they had planned on paying dues at the meeting. Dues are due in January. The meeting is in January. It really is none of our bussiness. We are the past. However, it is my childrens future and I am quite proud of brat boy putting his two cents in. I wasn't there but I heard about it later. At 12 he is their future, they need to bring the ones that will be leading in 5 to 10 years in and remember whats is best for them. It is what the Jr. Associations are designed for. Building future breeders and equipping them with the leadership skills to be the breeders of tomorrow. This is Jamie's two cents worth btw.
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