Today we talk awards...
Written by Summer Johnson, ACGA Admin Assistant and Event Coordinator
The 115th Annual Summer Convention was a hit! We built off the success of the past 114 years and gathered a group of 570 Arizona ranchers dedicated to raising beef and caring for their land. From awards to AJLA, raffles to elections, trade shows to sponsors ACGA couldn’t have asked for a better community to serve! Stay tuned for weekly blog posts all about Convention.
Today we talk, Awards. We are dedicated to recognizing Arizona ranchers who care for the land, animals, natural resources, and go above and beyond in the fight to protect the ranching community.
Awards, are based-on tradition, giving thanks, and recognizing those who are instrumental in furthering our mission. The membership and leadership of ACGA could not be more thankful to the many individuals of the ranching community for their dedication to serve consistently. It is a tradition to award a Cattleman of the Year, Cattlewoman of the Year, a Top Wrangler, and a Top Hand. This year, ACGA continued this tradition and recognized the following deserving individuals:
Cattleman & Cattlewoman of the Year: To our community, being named Cattleman or woman of the year means this individual’s mindset is based on leaving the land, natural resources, and cattle to the next generation better than they received them. Being involved in industry organizations, working hard, participating, and caring about our future are just a few of the characteristic generations of Cattlemen of the Year and Cattlewoman of the Year have possessed. This year we were proud to announce Jeff Menges as our Cattlemen of the Year. Jeff's qualities of being a man of high integrity, strong values, unwavering determination, and selfless service make him well qualified.
We also had the opportunity to have Arizona State Cowbelles recognize the excellent Anne Marie Moore as the 2019 Cattlewomen of the Year! Anne Marie is a lady whom we know we can always count on to do more and MOORE for this industry. She and her husband, Larry, have been huge supporters, giving of their talents, finances, and time. Congratulations, Anne Marie, and thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the beef industry!
Top Wrangler: Wranglers, not only work hard for their land, they work hard for their industry, and that is precisely why, past president, Andy Groseta was recognized. ACGA can’t thank Andy enough for his dedication, expertise, and knowledge! Andy is the man that taught our new ACGA staff and Executive team the ways and will always be a massive part of our cattle family.
Top Hand: To all the Hands out there, this award is significant to the growth of our industry. Recruiting members means you believe that this industry has benefits you want to share with others. Becki Gross, we are glad to see that people follow your wise words and now benefit from our membership. Thank you for guiding them our way. We promise to protect and serve!
Nominations for these awards were opened to the membership of ACGA and all those who registered for Convention. The Executive Committee reviewed the nominations and felt inspired to award two additional recipients awards for their continued service to our industry!
A special thanks to Rick Bader for pushing the Cattlelog to demonstrate our member-driven mindset. This man needs to be recognized not only for his helping hand but also for his creative ideas. People like Rick are how ACGA will be able to grow and grow; feedback is food for our business!
Tommie Martin was a tremendous help pointing our Executive Committee to look to the future, while always reminding them how they got here and to never forget about the traditions. She has demonstrated unity, and for that, we couldn’t be more grateful.
On behalf of the ranching community now and in the future, we thank you all for what you have done and continue to do for Arizona ranching.