Are you tired of sitting on the sofa all day or just plain bored with chores and your everyday routine? Well then, Georgia Junior Cattlemen’s Association has something for you!

We’ve gotten more than 50 members, parents and volunteers pre-registered for PERRY 2012, our Olympic-themed Field Day on July 12. The GJCA officer team would like to personally invite you to show off your ag-lete skills! There will be a variety of activities: Sporting events, educational sessions and lunch! We would also like to say a big thank you to all the junior members who submitted a design in our field day t-shirt design contest, as well as our sponsors!

So, maybe you aren’t the athletic type and you’re more of the beach bum. That’s not a problem because we have something for you! Join the Georgia Cattlemen’s at the beach for its summer conference.

Let’s Get Moo-tivated!

The Sweepstakes contest is an opportunity for juniors to showcase their achievements in the beef arena, participation in beef industry events and this year many new points categories were added. I have participated in the Georgia Junior Cattleman’s Association Sweepstakes program for numerous years and have been blessed to win both the junior and senior contests every year except my first year. My favorite achievement has been the fact that the high individual in both divisions gets the opportunity to pull the 20-foot aluminum trailer, an honor I have been blessed with several times. Participation in the Sweepstakes competition provided me the incentive to attend many functions hosted by the beef industry that I

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 Let’s Get Moo-tivated!

1 Keep Sweepstakes Points

Coming

2 2012 Convention a

Success for GJCA

3 The Importance of

Experience

4 Cattlemen in College

Congratulations to the

2011 Sweepstakes

champion, Morgan

Morris!

Official

Newsletter of

Georgia Junior

Cattlemen’s

Association

Summer 2012 Volume 1 Issue 1

By Hella Moore, GJCA field day chair

Keep Sweepstakes Points Coming By Gibson Priest, GJCA chapter relations officer

Please see Moo-tivated on page 2

Please see Sweepstakes on page 3

Georg ia Junior Catt lemen’s Assoc iat ion, 100 Catt lemen’s Dr ive, Macon, GA. 31221

www.gabeef.org/gjca 478-474-6560

What better way to learn about the beef industry, spend time with fellow junior members and win numerous prizes than the Georgia Cattlemen's Convention!

The 51st Annual Georgia Cattlemen's Convention was held April 4-7 in Perry, Ga. Juniors of all ages participated in contests at Convention, including the photo and poster contest, Team Marketing competition and scholarships. Even the adults participated in the GJCA photo contest! The Team Marketing competition was won by Drew Williams, Gage Brogdon and Daniel Williams. These members won $100 each! These participants were given a scenario and put together a presentation for the judging panel of three.

On Saturday morning, the CattleWomen organized the annual Beef Ambassadors contest. The winning junior and senior Beef Ambassadors won cash prizes and a trip to Wooster, Ohio, to compete in the National Beef Ambassador Contest. Congratulations to GJCA members Gibson Priest and Makayla Holmes on winning these honors!

At the Junior Luncheon on Saturday awards were given to the photo and poster contest, Sweepstakes, Beef Ambassador, Team Marketing and scholarship winners. All of these winners won money plus other wonderful prizes.

So, next year when you are thinking about how to fund all of the fun things you want to do during the summer, come to the Georgia Cattlemen's Convention and participate in the numerous contests while

Bring the whole family on down to the Georgia coast to enjoy the island breeze and the sun that’s going to even up that farmer’s tan. There will be plenty of opportunities to mix and mingle, plus GJCA-only activities: A sand-sculpting contest and tour of the 4-H Tidelands Nature Center, just to name a few!

Junior members, let’s get moo-tivated this summer. Show us how great of an ag-lete you are or what a beach bum you can be when you aren’t busy around the farm! Show the world that we are Georgia Junior Cattlemen’s and we are ready to have some summer fun!

Team Marketing competition winners

“Next year when you are

thinking about how to

fund all of the fun things

you want to do during the

summer, come to the

Georgia Cattlemen’s

Convention!”

Moo-tivated, from page 1

2012 Convention a Success for GJCA By Callie Akins, GJCA convention chair

Please see Convention on page 4

2012 Beef Ambassadors Makayla

Holmes and Gibson Priest

GJCA officers at the Cattlemen’s Ball

Register for Summer Conference on the GCA website!

We’ve all heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” It applies to everything from livestock shows to public speaking for the Beef Ambassador competition, and believe it or not, it also applies to the professional world.

I’m interning this summer with two different companies in Beaverton, Mich. With Little Cedar Cattle Company, I’m helping the farm owners prepare for their September production sale and with McMahon French Promotional Strategies learning more in-depth use of Adobe PhotoShop and InDesign software. It’s been a blast, and I think my future college and career plans will be glad I decided to spend my summer this way.

Internships are a great opportunity to get some practice for whatever job you might want, or on the other hand, learn that maybe vet school isn’t right for you if you faint the moment the veterinarian supervising your internship accidentally cuts an artery and some blood comes out. It’s going to take dedication and commitment to spend a summer away from home and in the work environment, but as my experience has shown me so far, it’s invaluable.

And even better, it’ll help beef up your résumé just a bit.

might not otherwise have participated in. Participants accumulate points March 10 through February 28 of the next year. Points must be entered both online and for some categories with a Sweepstakes Verification Form, within two weeks of the event. The use of the trailer is just one incentive associated with the contest. There are monetary prizes for the top three winners in each division as well as cool awards: This year, the top three won embossed leather boot bags! I would say those are some awesome advantages or at least they have been for me.

There are many advantages to participating in the GJCA Sweepstakes, but the best one is the fellowship with other GJCA members at all of the events. I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and start earning points yourself! Official Sweepstakes rules can be found online at www.gabeef.org/gjca. Points

categories include: Beef Ambassador, showmanship, Convention, Field Day, livestock show attendance, local chapter meetings, Georgia beef industry

events, breed association activities, public speaking and volunteering.

Example of the graphic design work

Reasor is learning as part of his

summer internship in Michigan

The Importance of Experience By John Reasor, GJCA chairman

Sweepstakes from page 1

Scenes from the Georgia

Simmental Association

Field Day (above) and

Georgia Hereford

Association Field Day

(below)

learning about the beef industry! Congratulations to all of the winners, and we hope to see you next year at Convention!

College: The next big step after high school. This is where new friends and lasting relationships will be formed. As junior cattlemen, we can say for certain that our participation in the Georgia Junior Cattlemen’s Association helped prepare us for the many challenges of college.

Cole is a rising sophomore at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga., and Katherine is about to start her senior year at University of Georgia in Athens. We are both choosing whether we want to go to professional school, graduate school or go straight into a career, a decision that many of you will be facing in the next few years.

Here are some tips we’ve learned: 1) Study. Yes, go ahead and get it in your head

Georgia Junior Cattlemen’s Association 100 Cattlemen’s Drive PO Box 27990 Macon, GA 31221

Phone: 478-474-6560

Fax: 478-474-5732

E-mail: dallas@gabeef.org

that if you want to succeed, you must put forth the effort. 2) Be open to new things. You will be surprised by what you can learn just by going out and introducing yourself. Take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you, because they might come in handy in the future. 3) Get out of the room and get involved. Become a member of your college’s Cattlemen’s chapter, join one of the agricultural Greek organizations, Sigma Alpha or Alpha Gamma Rho, and become a member of Alpha Zeta, the ag honors fraternity. 4) Don’t forget to HAVE FUN! College is a balancing act: After a long day of studying, reward yourself with something enjoyable. 5) Take a chance and take a leadership role in one of those clubs you get involved in. Employers like to look for that on résumés, and being a leader will teach you a lot about yourself and working as part of a team. 6) College is full of temptations, but be strong. Don’t give in and do what you feel is right. You know how you were raised. Live it.

We wish each of you luck as you begin the collegiate chapter of your lives! The real world is calling, so answer that call as any good GJCA member would do!

Cattlemen in College By Katherine Throne and Cole Brogdon, GJCA chapter relations officers

Convention from page 2

Scenes from the GJCA Region 11 Field Day in Milan, Ga., at

Turnpike Creek Farms

Beef Ambassador Update The 2012 Georgia Beef Ambassadors are Gibson Priest, senior division, and Makayla Holmes, junior division. So far this year, they attended a youth camp and played Beef-O-Bingo with kids and also handed out recipes, Silly Bandz, pencils and bumper stickers. They are raising money for their trip to the national contest in California by participating in festivals and selling livestock show magnets.