Green River cattle groups honor three centennial ranches, Ranch Woman of the Year
Marbleton – On March 8, dozens of members, friends and families of the Green River Valley Cattlewomen (GRVC) and Cattlemen’s Association (GRVCA) gathered in Marbleton for the groups’ special awards luncheon and banquet.
About 40 attended the GRVC luncheon at the Southwest Pioneers Senior Center in Marbleton to applaud the group’s annual “Lifetime Member” and “Ranch Woman of the Year” honorees.
GRVC committee member Sheri Bohleen read aloud the nomination letters and brief, but weighty, biographies of the Lifetime Member nominees -– with special recognition for 2014 going to Janice Kanski and Ann Barney.
Kanski’s sister Kathryn Briggs happily collected Janice’s gift basket and certificate, and Ann Barney waited humbly as the biographical sketch provided by her husband, rancher Bill Barney, was read for the crowd’s appreciation.
The GRVC’s highest individual honor for the “Ranch Woman of the Year” is an annual highlight, with the winning woman receiving a specially-made sign to mark the award.
As details of her busy and fulfilling life were revealed to the luncheon crowd, Jody Thompson’s face expressed a range of emotions – from disbelief to awe. Nominated by her daughter Amanda, Thompson was speechless as she received her honors.
Another GRVC awards luncheon highlight is the annual recognition of a truly special “Friends of Agriculture.” For 2014, Paulette and Norm Waller of Waller Trucking were nominated for their unstinting support of many aspects of the Sublette County community.
GRVC’s Centennial Ranch committee also noted that three Sublette County ranches have operated within the same family on the same land for at least a century.
Special plaques were presented at the GRVCA banquet to the Campbell Cattle Company of Bondurant, the Richie Family of Boulder and Thompson Ranch owners Joe and Diane Boroff.
The cattlemen also honored a special couple with a Lifetime Members award -– Gerry and Rusty Endecott, now of the Little Jennie Ranch in Bondurant – for their longtime commitment to the ag and ranching ways of life they have helped support around the county.
Many who attended Saturday’s GRVC awards luncheon continued on for the prime rib banquet, also held at the Senior Center in Marbleton, with about 200 people, young and old, coming from all corners of the Green River Valley and Hoback Basin to visit with good friends, have some laughs and kick up their heels to the Sundowners’ great dancing music.
Joy Ufford is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
