Cows for a Cause

It was a perfect day for an auction, albeit a bit cloudy. 
Later in the day the sun peeked out and warmed the early spring afternoon as SUNY Cobleskill Dairy Cattle Club (DCC) members led cows to and from the auction tent.   Students in their show whites were handed the cows just before taking each into the ring for anxious farmers to buy.  Inside the tent dairy farmers from across New York kept their sale programs close and their eyes fixed on auctioneer Dave Rama of the Cattle Exchange as the wind whipped across the top of the hill. Other students manned the barn, cleaning up after the cows, washing them and milking them, since the Holsteins would have long rides to their new homes.  Still more students huddled around grills cooking hamburgers and hotdogs, brewing coffee and feeding hungry buyers. All this to raise money for scholarships.

The annual SUNY Cobleskill Dairy Fashions Sale has been held for 27 years to raise money for Dairy Cattle Club Scholarships. The sale, started in 1981 and inspired by a calf sale held by the Holland-Patent FFA Chapter, has grossed more than $2.2 million and contributed more than $110,000 in scholarships.

This year alumni teamed up with the ambitious 50-member club to also raise monies for the Kristen Peck Memorial Scholarship.   The Friends of the Kristen Peck Memorial Scholarship Committee recently charged alumni who graduated in 1983-86 to help boost the fund in time for the Class of 1984’s 25th reunion.

“By last summer, the balance [of the scholarship] was at $12,000 which afforded one $500 scholarship annually,” said Penny Heritage ’84, chair of the Friends committee. “Together [the Friends committee] set a goal to reach $25,000 by their 25th class reunion in 2009.”
Since then mailings to classes, news articles and tireless efforts led the Friends committee to work with the consistently successful DCC sale and raise more money for the club and both scholarships.

Before the sale started, things got off on the right foot when Rama and Heritage thanked Jeffrey and Dawn Shart of Greenwich for their $5,000 donation to the Peck Scholarship.
Prior to the sale SUNY Cobleskill alumni planned a re-donate syndicate to up the price of the cow and raise money for the Peck Scholarship.  Altogether, eleven families pooled their money and reached $4,300. The families are from all over New York and include Dave and Sue Thompson of Ithaca, Dave and Merry Rama of Delhi, Brad and Ruth Pederson of Delhi, Jeff King of Schuylerville, Kevin and Carrie Peck of Schuylerville, Tom and Joanne Kugler of Valley Falls, Dave and LuAnn King of Madrid, Larry and Sally King of Saratoga Springs, Dr. Ronald ‘91 and Cheryl ’91 Thomas of Warner Robins, Ga., Bill and Penny Cook of Aurora, and Beth Keene of Morrisville.

The highest selling heifer, lot number one, consigned by Bill ‘74 and Regina ‘75 Lundy of Luncrest Holsteins in Granville, brought in $12,000, of which $900 was donated to the Peck Scholarship. Lot number 5, donated by Peter Dueppengeisser ’84 of Ransom Rail Farm in Perry, raised $6,600. Lot 10, donated by the Peck family was purchased for $4,300 and then re-donated and sold for $3,500. Lot 41, donated by John Dickinson, made another $1,415. In addition to the animals, $500 was raised at the silent auction organized by the Friends committee, adding $22,425 in the Peck scholarship fund.

The positive energy carried throughout the rest of the auction as people continued to support the Dairy Cattle Club scholarships, and raised about $4,000. The DCC scholarship is awarded each year to an incoming student interested in the dairy industry.   Consignors pay a commission to have their animals sold during the annual DCC sale and, while the bulk of the money goes toward the many expenses of the sale including advertising, the auctioneer, sale catalogs and supplies, the remainder goes into the scholarship pot.  Each year the club has given between $4,000 and $5,000 for Foundation scholarships, and throughout the 27 year sale history nearly $100,000 in scholarship money has been awarded.

“It was our most successful sale in the 27 year history,” said John Tryon ‘73, DCC club advisor and professor. “And to top it off we assisted in doubling the contributions to the Kristen Peck Memorial Scholarship Fund. “Many thanks to all the buyers and consignors who supported the sale, and special thanks to the Cattle Exchange, the sale staff and particularly to the students who have worked so hard pulling the sale together over the last six months.”