When I met Tar Tut at one of his first Junior National Hereford Expos I knew he was destined to be a leader and a shining star in this industry. He always has had such a presence in the showring and his passion for people and this industry is unmatched. It didn’t take long until he was serving as a state voting delegate, attending Faces of Leadership and then putting his name in the hat to run for a position on the National Junior Hereford Association Board of Directors. This summer will mark his second year on the board and he now holds the office of leadership chairman, a position that fits him very well. Tar is a true peoples champion and the junior NJHA members love to be around him and learn from him. He takes his job on the board very seriously and has brought so many valuable ideas and concepts to better our organization. Tar definitely makes the NJHA proud and has represented us well at Texas A&M and now as he moves into a job with Merck Animal Health. At our recent BOLD leadership conference, Tar led a workshop on coaching and who you are as a leader. As he was telling the story of the coaches that have made a difference along his journey, I couldn’t help but think of what a great coach he has been to the younger Hereford junior members through his service on the NJHA Board. Tar’s journey has only just began and I can’t wait
to see where he takes his leadership from here. Amy Cowan, American Hereford Association Director of Youth Activities and Foundation
chance to judge at the state judging contest along with exhibiting my heifer. That same summer, I was standing in line waiting for my nightly meal, when a BOLD, CONFIDENT and beefy, 13-year- old Hans Lind, approached me and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was waiting for a meal when he invited me to the family’s camper to eat a meal there. In short, the rest is history and I have been considered family to the Linds for the last 10 years. From that moment on, for the last 6 to seven years I have spent a majority of every major holiday with the Lind family because they took me in as one of their own. A couple of years later, the Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE) was held only three hours down the road from where I lived in
Madison, Wisconsin. It was there I met numerous people from all over the country and saw what the junior board did and was immediately hooked on everything junior nationals related. The National Junior Hereford Association (NJHA) and all its members welcomed me with open arms and, like the Lind family, were very accepting of me. It was the impact that both the Hereford Breed and the Red Angus Breed had on my adolescent life that made me want to run for the junior board so I could have the same influential impact on young junior members’ lives as the board members had on mine. I have been fortunate enough to serve on two different breed associations, junior board of directors.
My first position as a director on the NAJRAE junior board and currently serving as the Leadership Chair on the NJHA junior board directors. For lack of a better way to say it, during my developmental stages and figuring out who I was and what I am passionate about, I found my other love in livestock judging. As high school graduation approached, I realized that I could continue to pursue my passion for livestock judging in college. Two of my close friends, Cal Schultz and Martha Moenning and I, toured junior colleges together, and by the grace of God, we all landed at Butler Junior College in El Dorado, Kansas. There I gained a newfound confidence and love for the game instilled in me by Coach Taylor
Frank. A young, green team of 14 young adults became my family for the following two years where we were blessed to see success and were named Co-Team of the Year. It was important to me to further my education and livestock judging career and after much consideration, I made the decision to make Texas A&M University home for the last two years. In my opinion, the BEST Land Grant university that is dynamic in every perspective. While competing on one of the most decorated teams to have gone through the judging program and receiving a next-level education, the team was fortunate enough to finish its season named the Reserve National
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