As we come upon the One Year milestone of my nephew Marc’s miraculous heart transplant, I wanted to share the followup stories of these remarkable people related to our dairy community. Tough journeys can still be punctuated with happy stretches and gratitude. I offer my deep thanks to Marc, Kim/George, and Jeremy for their perseverance, faith and inspiration. I’m sure their updates will resonate with many others in our broad dairy community – for now, their days are diamonds. Please consider registering as an organ donor if you haven’t already – transplant.bc.ca.
It was the spring of 1979 and four very enthusiastic guys were plotting out the beginnings of an inaugural purebred sale which would super-charge the BC Holstein breeding industry for many years. Dick Carlson, Pete Beck, John Brown and Gerry Holt unintentionally ruffled a few feathers at the BC Branch with their big plans for the Dogwood Classic sale. The sale would become a CFV Holstein Club event and by all accounts, it was a roaring success. But what every big event needs is promotion! And that was the genesis of the BC Holstein News story… 40 years ago!
 Louis Schurmann and Dave Taylor – longtime dairy producer advocates and leaders. |  The Mainland Young Milk Producers – a brilliant, positive incubator for discussing issues, learning and interacting with dairy producers that share similar challenges. |
L-R: Sherm Polinder, Karen Souter, Tars, Chubb Berry.
Nearly everyone reading this will relate to the unsettling months of NAFTA negotiations and the feeling of betrayal left by the new ‘Shafta’ trade agreement. People outside of dairy fall into either the ‘We support 100% Canadian dairy,’ or the ‘Get over it’ camps.
I can still remember the big smile Wiebe Keulen flashed when he greeted our busload of farm visitors in 1990, before dashing off with urgency – this was Neveridle Farm. I had many great visits since that time with Art and Wilma and got to know young George as well, who was every bit as personable as the other Keulens.
