Star Lake '12 National Western Blog Report #3 (1/8/12)
The key word that will sum up the last 24 hrs is CHANGE. Let me explain - When I left Denver on Friday morning it was sunny and a nice 50 degrees. I return on Saturday to dark, overcast, cold and snow! After an overnight of 15 degrees and a snowfall report of 1-2" in the Denver metro we expect mostly sunny and a high of 30 today. For our Oklahoma crew that means the layers of clothes are stacking up....you can bet Todd Herman has at least four coats on. As the norm the weather will make another big change calling for sunny and clear on Monday and Tuesday with highs in the mid 40's to 50...calling for SNOW again on Wednesday L... back to clear and sunny (38-44 degrees) on Thurs and Friday. TRANSLATION: Sloppy in The Yards, bring boots and have layers to add or shed.
The activity at the National Western grounds has really picked up with a whole lot of exhibitors arriving and the parking lots filled with spectators. It's great to see the dominance of white faced cattle in The Yards as a bunch of Hereford cattle have arrived. We hope those making the trip during or after the snow have safe travels as we all meet for the granddaddy of them all The National Western Stock Show.
I wanted to start in detailing some of the cattle here in Denver. For our Carload Entry we have brought eleven bulls to The Yards. A carload is a group of ten so we have an alternate in case an animal would be injured or get sick. This year we have three of the eleven candidates that are For Sale here in Denver. STAR MKS Riding Shogun 50Y ET is a 1/16/11 bull calf sired by Kamikaze out of Western Star. Also For Sale is STAR TRF Valentino 170Y ET out of Brite Kessie and sired by Bailout. Valentino was born on February 14, 2011. Rounding up this group of yearling bulls being offered is STAR Lightning Strike 41Y ET that is a Bright Future son born on 1/13/11. I can guarantee that at least two of these bulls will make the carload. They look great and if you have an interest in buying call Montie @ (918)396-4322...they won't last long and I suspect all will be sold before we leave Denver.
The showing activities are lead off this year with the Junior Show. We have a group of four ET junior heifers in the show string that will be exhibited by their junior owners. Lucas, Logan & Cory Stumpf are making the trip from Illinois and will lead STAR Impassable Dream 80Y; Addison Jones from Ohio will show STAR KKH SSF Olive Awe 323Y: Kya Rhodes of Oklahoma will be on the halter of STAR SSF HCC Valee Gal 150Y and Tess Stehr also an Oklahoma gal will present STAR KKH Keylona 319Y. We are honored to have these young people as part of our group and appreciate the confidence they have placed in Star Lake genetics.
Our stall signs arrived, after making the trip through Las Vegas! Giving credit where credit is due.....Good Job to Jon Blin for turning these around. When the latest EPD numbers come out two weeks before the start of the show it is extremely difficult to get these done. Jon again worked with Josh Coonrad at Signs & More in Independence, Iowa and we thank him for responding to our tight leadtime. I venture to guess that over half of the stall signs that will be put up in Denver will have the old EPD's displayed.
I apologize for the erratic nature of these blogs...my CTG (Chief Technical Guru) was at his bachelor party and I did some terrible things to my computer. We are on the right track and will be posting an up dated report daily around noon. I have help here now in the picture department and you can expect that to improve also. That's all for now...time to finish the beef stew for the gangs lunch tomorrow.
Stop by and see us!
Demand the Brand
Josh Clipping
Josh and Todd working on the carload.
The yards are filling up!
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