The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Tri-County Cattlemen Banquet:

Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Editor

Steaks Were Great and Entertainment Kept You Laughing

There was so much going on at the annual Tri-County Cattlemen's banquet held at WIU's student Union banquet facilites in Macomb, and again, it was a packed crowd...even on a snowy evening.

After the juicy dinner of rib eye steaks grilled outside by the cattlemen, served with potatoes, corn, green beans, and 7 layer salad, the meeting started with President Thad Tharp and Secretary/Treasurer Allison McGrew conducting.

The late Larry Dowell, Stronghurst, was honored postmortem for all his work promoting the beef industry. Larry had served as President of the Cattlemen's Association, the Illinois Beef Association, the local Farm Bureau, and was a 4H leader, to name a few.

Despite his impact on the beef industry, he would always say, "I'm just a poor old country boy, tryin' to get by."

His widow Becky Dowell and grandson Caleb Dowell (7th generation cattlemen) accepted the award.

Six students were recognized as the 2017 scholarship winners: Braelynn Beeler (West Prairie), Kyle Ferguson (BPC), John McEwen (BPC), Sydney Riden (West Prairie), Brooke Ryner (United) and Abigail Steck (West Central).

The main speaker was Comedian Tim the Dairy Farmer who had everyone laughing with his humor. Tim just signed a contract with Jeff Foxworthy.

A silent auction was held and a live auction professionally conducted by one of the scholarship winners Kyle Ferguson (BPC). Auctioned off was everything from a Backyard BBQ of 100 sandwich ribeyes grilled by the cattlemen, to two Chicago Cubs vs. St Louis Cardinals infield tickets.

As a bonus, the Cattlemen booked dueling pianos from Felix and Fingers out of the Chicago area which totally was a blast of embarrassment, good music, and fun.

For a $100, which went to the Scholarship Fund, you could pay to have anyone brought up and have them perform. Also, you could request songs-the tempo was all upbeat with Piano Man, Brown Eye Girl, Sweet Caroline, Hotel California, Johnny Cash, Benny and the Jets, Joy to the World, ending with American Pie-The Day The Music Died.