President – Jessica Smith
Chairman of Marketing – Mollee Brown
Chairman of Finance – Tyler Mackey
Chairman of Membership Communication – Sarah Dickinson
Chairman of Leadership – Dulcie Fields
Eastern Regional Trustee – Morgan Phillips
North Central Regional Trustee – Morgan Phillips
North Central Regional Trustee – Allyston Ottsenmeier
North Central Regional Trustee – Samantha Walker
South Central Regional Trustee – Brett Willis
Western Regional Trustee – Britney Beins
We were excited for the chance to interview Junior Director – Hannah Wine about the Simmental Breed and National Classic!
What do you want exhibitors to be excited about for this Junior Nationals? After just going through our National Classic entries, I am excited to say that it is our biggest yet with 410 exhibitors and 696 cattle entered. This year it is a little different the National Classic will be held in-conjunction with the Simmental Breeders Sweepstakes. This gives exhibitors a unique opportunity to exhibit cattle at two different major Simmental shows.
Another exciting thing about this year’s National Classic is the location. There is not a better venue for a summer show than Louisville, Kentucky.
What is the most rewarding experience while being a Junior Director? Having been with the Simmental Association for three years I have found one of the most rewarding things about my job is getting to see the kids grow and progress within the organization.
My job is a little different than some junior directors because I go to all of the Regional Classic shows along with the National Classic. At the Regional Classic’s you get more of the local aspect and it is great to see younger individuals that progress from their first major Simmental show to now coming to the National Classic every year!
What is your favorite thing about junior nationals? As a kid, I was a Hereford Junior Board Member, being a part of the Simmental Junior Nationals has exposed me to some things that are totally different from what I’m used to. But for as much as there are differences, there are certain things that stay the same—like the excitement from the youth leaders in all of our breed associations. One of the most exciting things for me is seeing the Simmental junior trustee candidates run for the junior board each summer. I love to watch their experience to the next level as they put themselves out there beyond their ordinary experiences at the National Classic; they get to know the current trustees, the entire membership, and willingly step foot onto unsteady ground for the potential of new position in their association.
Another thing I really love is getting to see the cattle progress. Simmentals are an interesting breed to see in the summer and then watch as they progress through to the majors in the fall.
Why do you think Jr. Nationals plays such an important role in the youth! It is a huge opportunity for kids to network with peers from all over the country. It is awesome to see them grow and evolve year after year at the event. At Simmental we require kids to compete in 3 out of the 4 educational contests. It brings in an interesting aspect of needing to be able to take care of cattle, but also be well educated and versed in educational contests. The kids will be up early in the morning working cattle, but they will also have their suit and tie on throughout the week, competing in different contests.
Looking to the future what locations would you be most excited about to host a junior national at? I would like to see the National Classic travel, as it has, around the country to expose our membership to different parts of the United States. It is a family vacation for most of the family so it is nice to have it in unique locations. As we grow we face the challenge of having too many cattle to fit in certain facilities so moving forward we will have to take that into consideration, but right now we have a lot of options. We rarely get to travel west for a National Classic, I would like to see the event to head to Montana as a major anniversary classic for the American Simmental Association to welcome it’s members to the home state of the ASA headquarters.
Where will you be in 2015? For 2015 we will be in College Station, TX which is pretty far south for a junior national, but we get to tap in to a lot of Simbrah exhibitors in Texas that don’t make it to our National Classic very often. It will be an exciting trip for our members to make and we couldn’t be more lucky to have Texas A& M and all of their resources at our fingertips.