Page 54 - BCHNews-122023-Web

54 WC DAIRY NEWS  CHRISTMAS 2023
Willswikk Big Winner on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island Holstein Club Production Awards
Pete Vanden Dungen presents the Honourary Lifetime Member recognition to his father John with Club President Amanda Poelman presiding.
Winners of Production, Breeders Cup and other recognitions. (L-R) Luke Van Huizen, Amanda Poelman, Cindy Wikkerink, William Wikkerink, Ben van Boven, Oliver Balme, Ridley Wikkerink.
Tars Cheema
Club President for the second year, Amanda Poelman greeted the members of the VI Holstein Club on November 1st and introduced guests, sponsors and Honourary Members. She came well prepared to run an efficient program, to purposely allow ample time for visiting with dairy friends after. Amanda recapped the activities of the year including the resumption of the Club’s Judging Day after being on a Covid break. July featured the 48th annual show, without a sale, enjoying a social evening instead, hosted by Agwest Vet and Top Shelf Feeds. “Including 4-H members from the mainland, we were up 25 head for 81 head total,” Amanda was pleased. In August, the club co-hosted a Farm Tour at the Beachams’ Autumn Hills Dairy in Black Creek, with about 150 in attendance! For the second year, the Island club organized a Breeders Cup (on-farm) competition which included five new farms and a coloured breeds class resulting in a total of 54 entries. See full results on page 16.
Inducted as an Honourary Lifetime Member was John Vanden Dungen. His parents moved their family from the mainland to the Cowichan Valley in 1977. John was a keen 4-H competitor and became a driving force behind Meadow Green’s breeding ambitions, leading to much success for the prefix. John served as the Club President, Futurity organizer and was BC Branch President in 1991-1992. It was a touching moment, watching his son Pete, also a former Club President, present the honour to his dad.
There’s nothing like receiving a Holstein Canada forty-year Veteran Breeder pin to make you pause and question the lifetime math which has brought you to this point! Pleased recipients were Ben van Boven (Vanvalley), Ridley Wikkerink (Wedgwood) and Yvonne and Heinz Roemer (Roemer).
Yvonne Roemer presented the Production
Awards once again, the Top Managed herds and announced Amanda Poelman as Top Judge at the club’s Judging Day held in the spring.
Amanda presented a polished PowerPoint presentation showcasing the Breeders Cup cows, farms and eventual class and overall winners. And just as President Amanda intended, the evening lingered long with friends enjoying one another’s company late into the evening.
Productions Awards on Vancouver Island 2022
Co-sponsored by AND VI Holstein Club
YEARLINGS
1. LLOYDSHAVEN RUMBLE JESSE
11,565M 499F 392P BCA 320 372 338 Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd.
2. LLOYDSHAVEN DARWIN MOUSE
12,553M 471F 387P BCA 343 347 331 Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd.
2-YEAR OLD
1. SUMMERSHADE ELLIE MONEY
14,132M 602F 467P BCA 373 427 386 Willswikk Holsteins
2. LLOYDSHAVEN LAUTRUST EDITH
14,447M 686F 509P BCA 340 431 372 Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd.
3-YEAR OLD
1. WILLSWIKK CHIEF APACHE
16,026M 729F 525P BCA 348 431 357 Willswikk Holsteins
2. WILLSWIKK DUKE MISSISSIPPI
17,209M 791F 581P BCA 344 423 363 Willswikk Holsteins
4-YEAR OLD
1. WILLSWIKK DOORMAN ADELAIDE
19,230M 855F 623P BCA 394 467 397 Willswikk Holsteins
2. BALME AYR NON-STOP IMOGENE III (Ayrshire)
13,017M 510F 458P BCA 361 345 385 Balme Ayr Farms Ltd.
5-YEAR OLD
1. NICREST HIGH OCTANE HADLEY
16,697M 797F 542P BCA 329 428 341 Willswikk Holsteins
2. FRUEH DOORMAN ROSE
15,825M 668F 550P BCA 319 361 348 PB Willswikk Holsteins
MATURE COW
1. LLOYDSHAVEN AL POPCORN
15,862M 758F 534P BCA 304 391 324 Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd.
2. SILVERMAPLE SAMMY JOE
16,816M 769F 578P BCA 303 377 336 Adshead Holdings Ltd.
10-YR OLD +
1. BALME GARRETT INCOME 1
16,413M 614F 510P BCA 334 341 327 Balme Ayr Farms Ltd.
2. SPRINGBEND LAUTHORITY SALACIA
14,637M 483F 431P BCA 292 261 273 Meadow Green Farm Ltd.
TOP PRODUCTION COW
1. WILLSWIKK DOORMAN ADELAIDE
19,230M 855F 623P BCA 394 467 397 Willswikk Holsteins
2. SUMMERSHADE ELLIE MONEY
14,132M 602F 467P BCA 373 427 386 Willswikk Holsteins
LIFETIME MILK
1. VANVALLEY EPIC SIIRI
14 records 173,876kg M Vanvalley Farm
2. BALME GARRETT INCOME 1
9 records 141,069kg M Balme Ayr Farms Ltd.
LIFETIME FAT
1. WILLSWIKK BAXTER DOTTIE
11 records 6,370kg F
J. William Wikkerink Farms
2. VANVALLEY EPIC SIIRI
14 records 5,779kg F Vanvalley Farm
LIFE TIME PROTEIN
1. VANVALLEY EPIC SIIRI
14 records 5,077 kg P Vanvalley Farm
2. BALME GARRETT INCOME 1
9 records 4,464kg P Balme Ayr Farms Ltd.
TOP PUBLISHABLE HERD
1. Willswikk Holsteins, William Wikkerink
BCA 289 346 304......................47 records 12,930kg M 580kg F 435kg P
2. Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd., Barbara Milley
BCA 280 324 291.......................75 records 11,999kg M 523kg F 400kg P
TOP HERDS BY MANAGEMENT SCORE
1. Lloydshaven Holsteins Ltd., Barbara Milley
866pts......................................95 records
2. Chemainus Farms Ltd.,
Gerald, Linda & Rob Plester 795pts.....................................619 records
Bill Wikkerink’s Aalten
Pilgrimage
neat to experience Holland through Dad’s eyes and memories,” Darlene shares.
After a year shivering in Taber, Alberta, the family moved to Vancouver Island at the end of 1955, where today, Bill’s children operate the original home farm in Cobble Hill. A stunning new milking facility for 200 cows equipped with three DeLaval robots, a state-of- the-art manure system and numerous other ultra-modern touches will be in operation before this Christmas.
It’s a long way from the days of milking six cows in a modest shed attached to the back of the little brick house, but we understand why that little shed still remains a big part of Bill.
How many of us can pose with a road sign with our name? Bill and Cindy Wikkerink can, though they had to travel to the Netherlands!
Tars Cheema
Many of our Dutch dairying families will Mom and went touring,” Cindy smiles. appreciate this story and relate to its These were long-overdue reunions
emotional roots.
Bill Wikkerink was just 12 years old when his family left post-war Holland on March 30, 1954. But those difficult memories could not keep him away from a nostalgic pilgrimage to the picturesque little village of Aalten in late July, which he had not visited since 2006. This trip would not have been possible without the complete involvement of Bill and Gert’s three daughters, Carol, Darlene and Cindy, for whom this would be the first trip to the parents‘ ‘homeland.’
“Dad spent three days visiting his family and a dozen classmates, while we took
steeped in emotions, reminiscing of lives lived... and some passed. “Dad was pretty tired when we picked him up after all his visiting,” Darlene shared, “He had a hard time leaving...”
I learn that Bill’s dad worked part-time for a large farmer, from whom he rented seven acres, including a modest brick home with adjoining barn where they milked 6-7cows. The kind old gentleman living there now welcomed them to tour the old homestead again. In addition to farming, Bill’s dad was a milk tester and local milk hauler. Everyone worked together back then, Darlene conveys Bill’s memory of that time. “It was really
Bill Wikkerink was just a boy when he discovered his love for cows in
this modest little barn attached to their family home in Aalten, NLD.