Standing ovation honors Ohioan for his leadership

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Outstanding U.S. sheep industry members were honored for their contributions to the industry at an award luncheon Jan. 26 at the American Sheep Industry Association/National Lamb Feeders Association Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Guy Flora of Cardington, Ohio, received a standing ovation as he accepted the McClure Silver Ram Award for his tireless leadership to the Ohio and the U.S. sheep industry for many years.
Flora’s local and state leadership is evidenced by his involvement on the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association Board and the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program Board.
National player. On a national level, Flora has served as secretary/treasurer, vice president and president of American Sheep Industry.
For the last 20 years, Flora has served as editor/publisher of The Shepherd Magazine, which has grown to be a well-respected publication for the sheep industry.
He continues to serve as an outstanding educator, mentor and shepherd for the U.S. sheep industry.
As his nominator, the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association said Flora had tremendous leadership capacities at the national level, guiding the organization into a new, positive direction and that he is one of the few national sheep industry leaders from east of the Mississippi River.
Research award. The Camptender Award was presented to Wayne Purcell of Riner, Va., for his decades of valuable research work on issues related to the sheep and lamb industry.
More recently, Purcell’s hard work and dedication provided the econometric model for American Sheep Industry’s Livestock Risk Protection-Lamb project.
M. Quinn Jacobson of Dubois, Idaho, was awarded the Flock Guardian Award for his 30 years of dedication at the University of Idaho’s U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, where he manages three bands of sheep and herders.
Media. Winning the Shepherd’s Voice Award for Broadcast Media was Tony Purcell of Dallas, Texas. Receiving the Shepherd’s Voice for Print Media, Chuck Stocks of Albuquerque, N.M., has been supporting the sheep and wool industry for 32 years through his publication, The New Mexico Stockman.
The owner of Shady Side Farm in Holland, Mich., Michael Bronkema, is the recipient of the Environmental Stewardship Award for being the first operation to be certified under the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program.
In addition to the awards above, American Sheep Industry also honored two members of the U.S. wool industry with the first-ever American Wool Excellence Award.
Those receiving this award were Leroy Keese of Brady, Texas, and Wylie McDonald of San Angelo, Texas, two retired wool buyers.