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2020 Minnesota All-Breeds Convention

The Rochester Area Holstein club hosted the 2020 Minnesota All-Breeds Convention March 6-7, 2020 at the Empire Event Center in Rochester, Minnesota.
On Thursday evening before the official kick off of convention the Minnesota Holstein Association (MHA) held its board of directors meeting to discuss upcoming events and discuss current items in the association.
The Minnesota Purebred Dairy Cattle Association (PDCA) held its annual meeting on Friday morning. The PDCA awards luncheon then took place, where they recognized the 2020 Distinguished Breeders: Tim Albrecht, Andrew and Jodene Steuwe, and Phil and Debra Suess. Mary Swart was awarded the PDCA Distinguished Service Award. 
Minnesota Holstein Association awards were presented at the banquet on Friday evening. The Longtime Meritorious Service Award was presented to Mike and Karen Schiller. Deb Heuer graciously accepted Person Of The Year Honors for her continued dedication to Minnesota Holstein. Distinguished Service Awards were awarded to Patti Schaefer and Karla Smeija for their service to the organization. 
Upon the conclusion of the awards, Chris Koch of Alberta, Canada, presented a motivational interaction entitled, “If I Can”. After the speech, a toy box painted by Pam Klatt was auctioned off and sold repeatedly, raising funds for the family in Klatt’s memory. The toybox was then donated back to Andy Steinhagen.
President Andy Steinhagen was presented the retiring board member award. Chelsey Asche was presented the President’s Award for her two years of service to MHA as the Marketing Manager. Elwin Brands presented Production Futurity Awards.  Resolutions were read and new resolutions were passed. Nominations were held for five board of directors positions. Matt Timmer, Christopher Schulze, and Tim Stender were re-elected to the board, while Nathan Donnay and Trevor Ekkel were newly elected to the board. Presentations of Progessive Genetic Herds and Progressive Breeder Awards were announced during the meeting.
The MHA Board of Directors met at the conclusion of the annual meeting to elect officers for the upcoming year. The executive board includes President Tracy Schaefer, Vice President Randy Gross, and Treasurer Ashley Swenson. 
The Minnesota Holstein Association also held a 2022 National Convention Meeting. National Convention Chair, Darrel Rennich, discussed the next steps in the planning process and unveiled the 2022 logo. 
A silent auction was also held and the dairy bar was open all weekend. Thank you to Katie Olson and Jeff Pagel, along with the entire Rochester Area Holstein Club for hosting a great convention! 

MHA Person of the Year Deb Heuer and presenter John Schmitz.

 

Distinguished Service Award Winners Karla Kmieja and Patti Schaefer

 

Katie Olson (Convention Co-Chair), Chris Koch (Motivational Speaker), and Jeff Pagel (Convention Co-Chair).

 

Longtime Meritorious Service Award Winners Mike & Karen Schiller

 

Progressive Breeder Award Winners

 

Progressive Genetics Herd Award Winners

 

2020 Minnesota Holstein Association Board of Directors.

Back Row (L-R): Tracy Schaefer, Karen Gorentz, Darrel Rennich, Matt Timmer, Adam Johnson, Kris Gruenes, Elwin Brands.

Front Row (L-R): Dale Rupperecht, Randy Gross, Ashley Swenson, Tim Stender, Eric Sonnek

Missing from Photo: Nathan Donnay, Trevor Ekkel

 

Photos by Rachel Coyne & Melanie Fritsche