Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I personally am excited to have the fresh start of a new year. I would like to briefly introduce myself. I am Madison Bowers, new President for the Nevada CattleWomen. I am a Nevada native, I attended college in Wyoming and Idaho before moving back home to finish my accounting degree online. I live and work on my family’s cow-calf operation in Elko County, along with using my degree on the side. I have some big goals for my presidency and am excited to touch on those next month. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or just to say hi at hoopermaddi@gmail.com.
This month I would to discuss the past state convention, introduce you to your 2022 Nevada CattleWomen state officers, discuss the Winter Field Day, and give a couple of quick thank-yous. We were able to have our annual Nevada Cattlemen’s Association Convention in Elko in December. It was such a great time to be together and see everyone. Nevada CattleWomen started off with our board of directors meeting Thursday evening and our general membership meeting Friday morning. The general membership meeting had a few guest speakers. Starting with a quick legislative update from Martin Paris, Executive Director at Nevada Cattlemens. Evelyn Green, the ANCW President, traveled all the way from Alabama and was a true joy to listen to her. Clarie Kehoe and Nicole Zahrt did a quick overview of the current Farm Loans. The meeting moved on to normal policy and procedures with a budget overview, committee reports and upcoming events.
The Presidents Award was given to Janice Connelly during the general membership meeting. Janice has been involved with CattleWomen for a few years and is a major asset. We are so appreciative of everything she has done on the National, State and Local level. She is a true icon to the association we are so lucky to have been graced with her knowledge and presence. “Thank You” is simply not enough for all the time and effort she has put out.
At the end of our membership meeting, the election for the 2022 state officers was held. Our Nevada CattleWomen officer team for 2022 is the following:
- Madison Bowers | Elko, NV | President
- Keri Pommerening | Wellington, NV | President Elect
- Charmi Mitchell | Wellington, NV | Vice President
- Emily Fulstone | Smith, NV | Secretary
- Ana Dagenhart | Genoa, NV | Treasurer
- Julie Irish | Elko, NV| Parliamentarian
Along with the convention we were able to host our Nevada CattleWomen’s Winter Field Day. This is an event we host during the same time as convention. The goal of this event is to allow youth to compete and attend convention, hoping they will gain an understanding of agricultural events beyond high school. Charmi Mitchell went above and beyond this year to put on this event. The COVID restrictions has made it extremely difficult for FFA students to compete in their normal competitions, most that attended had never competed before. We were able to host speaking contests, veterinary science, ag sales, and a Cattle Contest. We cannot wait to grow this event and love adding in the beef focus to each contest.
Thank you, Melinda Sarman, for all your hard work the past couple of years. The cards were definitely stacked against you many times and you persevered and were able to truly make the most of it. Melinda was able to get our Women In Ranching Education and Development (WIRED) program off the ground and held an amazing event last July. Melinda also worked hard on bringing back/starting youth programs. The NCW Winter Field Day and our Collegiate Beef Advocacy program are thriving due to her time and effort. We are thankful Melinda is leading the revision of our long term plan during her term as Past President.
Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that our national meeting will be held in Houston, TX from January 30th – February 1st, 2022. There is also rumor of the ANCW summer meeting moving from Denver to Reno; more information to come on that in the days ahead.
By Madison Bowers, President