One of the most active clubs in the Empire State is the O-H-M group, consisting of breeders in Otsego, Herkimer and Montgomery counties. Located just east of Syracuse, the O-H-M Club not only has a very successful show, but a well-attended and lively banquet, as was evidenced by Friday night’s turnout! Well over 80 people packed into the Veteran’s Club in Richfield Springs to help honor their fellow member, Richard Keene, for 55 years of membership. Also on the program that night were the typical meeting items, such as the show and sale reports, a state director’s report from Doug Wolfe, a junior advisor’s update from Tina Douglas and a state convention update from Holly Pullis as the O-H-M group prepares to host the convention in early January in Utica.

Following is Peter DeBlock’s presentation honoring Dick Keene. We think you’ll enjoy it! Also, see below for pictures from the evening’s events.

Pete DeBlock (at left) congratulates Shirley and Dick Keene, for his 55 years of membership in the O-H-M Club.

It is a great honor for me this evening to be asked to pay a special tribute to a man I have admired for more than 50 years. He has been a good friend for many years, but even before we were to meet in person, he was an outstanding role model for me.

The story begins while I was in high school and a junior Holstein member. This man was assistant secretary of the New York Holstein Association, and among his duties was being in charge of the junior program. Whenever I would open my New York News, he would be there. He was everywhere – judging shows, attending meetings, making farm visits. His knowledge of cattle, combined with the way he conducted his business, and himself, made every junior want to grow up to be just like him.

Fast forwarding now to the fall of 1963. I was a member of the Cornell Judging team and my practice judging scores were not quite up to Coach George Trimberger’s standard. After a day of judging, while in route to the national contest in Waterloo, Iowa, Prof. Trimberger summoned me to his room one evening to give me an encouraging little “pep-talk.” He spent several minutes going over some of the finer points of analyzing a class of cows with greater accuracy, ending with a “gem of wisdom” that is very helpful in solving any of life’s little problems, “If you get all the facts, you cannot possibly make a wrong decision.”

I thanked my coach for his help, and as I turned to leave the room, I heard one more statement that inspired me more than anything else he could have said. “Don’t worry! Eight years ago I had this same conversation with Dick Keene. He went on to win the national contest, and he hasn’t missed a cow since!” Those words did inspire me to work harder, and the end result at the contest was quite satisfactory. In a round-about way, the positive influence of Dick Keene had come through again!

It is probably a safe bet that most of the folks in this room did not know before tonight that Dick Keene had won a national judging contest in 1955. But, there is little doubt that everyone knows of his countless accomplishments since. For 54 years, Dick has built upon his big win at Waterloo to further develop his ability to gather all the facts, and make the right decision. He has accomplished much as a great industry man, a great community man, and a great family man.

Here are just a few of the things you will find on his resume:
* Dick has judged every county show in New York state. He has judged state fairs, state shows, and judging conferences in so many states that we cannot count them all.
* He is the only person to officiate at the Holstein Show at World Dairy Expo five times, and has also done each of the other breeds there at least once.
* He has placed the classes at the Royal Winter Fair, as well judged in nearly every province in Canada.
* Dick’s assignments have taken him to five different continents – he has placed classes in Australia, Brazil, Mexio, England and Japan.
* Dick will be forever known as the classifier who scored Osborndale Ivanhoe Excellent.

Dick has served the National Holstein Association in several ways. He has been a delegate to many conventions. He has been a director, vice president, and president at a critical time when his brand of leadership and vision were needed to help define the future direction of the Association.

Despite all of the nationwide and worldwide acclaim Dick has received, including being honored as a pioneer by the National Dairy Shrine organization, Dick is most comfortable when he can be of service closer to home, in or near is own local community. His greatest satisfaction has come when he has helped young people reach their full capacity to learn and make sound decisions.

Dick’s desire to teach and be of help to young people led him to be a 4-H leader, an extension leader, a school board member, a BOCES board member, and a member of the alumni advisory board of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

In addition to all of these things, he has been an elder and treasurer of his church, he is an accomplished golfer and even more accomplished water douser.

Dick is a very modest man. He may quietly reflect on all of his life’s achievements, but the one thing that will always bring a smile to his face is any mention of his wife, his five daughters, and his 13 grandchildren. The girls have also asked me to mention that mom will have been a full partner in all of dad’s achievements, by her support and encouragement, for 50 years when their golden anniversary rolls around next June.

Dick, we urge you to keep up the good work – you do make a difference – and the world needs more people just like you!

Long-time O-H-M members from left: Lysle Parker (45 years); Dick Keene (55 years); Larry Ainslie (50 years); Gary Stowell (50 years); Wayne Conard (40 years); and Susan Mower (40 years). Also honored were Willis Conard, F. Henry Jaeger, Kelly Sammons Knowlton and Kirk Schwasnick.

Cy Conard, always a thumbs-up kindof guy and Andy Chlus, organizer of the junior’s chicken riggie dinner held yesterday, were busy canvasing the crowd for support of the upcoming state junior convention.

Holly Pullis and her mother-in-law, Pat Pullis, catch up after the banquet. Holly and her husband, Jason, are busy getting ready for state convention, while Pat helps to finalize details for her son Luke’s upcoming Christmas wedding!

Jenn Larrabee holds Mason, possibly the youngest member of O-H-M in attendance and catches up with junior advisor Tina Douglas.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 9:06 am by kknutsen and is filed under Miscellaneous. Hits for this post:924 You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.