Congratulations to Harry Thompson and his daughter Kathy Walton, both of Carlisle, Pa. for receiving the 2009 All-American Dairy Show Image Award. The Image Award is presented annually to an individual who has enhanced the image of the All-American Dairy Show with significant contributions toward its reputation, prestige and welfare.
More than a dozen years ago, Thompson and his wife Aliene watched their grandson, Craig, participate in a national junior dairy showmanship contest. Impressed by the quality of the show and its benefit to the youth, they enlisted their daughter’s help to organize a similar event at the All-American Dairy Show in Pennsylvania.
Now in its 12th year, the annual All-American Dairy Show Youth Showmanship Contest boasts more than 250 participants each year from Georgia to Massachusetts. The contest has three divisions ranging from ages eight to 21, with 10 winners selected in each group. The top 10 senior division showmen compete in a fitting competition with heifers donated from Thompson’s farm that he meticulously selects, washes and prepares.
Together, the father-daughter team sought financial sponsors and patrons – individuals, breed organizations and agribusinesses – to support the contest that offers generous prizes, including neck ribbons for the top 10 winners in each division, directors’ chairs, embroidered blankets, savings bonds and cash awards, among others.
Walton secures four judges and coordinates volunteers who help carry out the show each year. She is quick to mention their dedication and the integral role they play in keeping the contest so successful, stressing that “many hands make light work.”
Established in 1993, the Image Award is the dairy show’s way of recognizing one of its own dedicated leaders. The winner is chosen through the Image Award Committee of the Pennsylvania Dairy and Allied Industries Association and nominations are solicited from within the organization, other volunteers of the All-American Dairy Show and past award winners.
The Thompsons and Waltons have exhibited cattle at the All-American Dairy Show since relocating from Bucks County in 1987.