Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
129 Poole Agricultural Center, Box 340361
Clemson, SC 29634-0361
During April, the Clemson University Block and Bridle Club elected an excellent group of well rounded individuals to guide the 125 active member group through the year.
The following is a list of the officers and advisors:
President: Tripp Kemp; Vice President: Marian Shuler; Secretary: Kelly Paddock;
Treasurer: Vanessa Smith; Marshall: Will Reinhardt; Publicity: Amanda Nichols;
Social: Erin Strickland; Rodeo: Brandon Hurley; Woodburn: Katie Roe;Chapter
Activities: Hallicine Vanbrink; Scrapbook: Marie Henderson; Initiation: Bert
Bagley; Cattle Sales: Nathan Long; Ham Sales: Mylinda Miller; LNA: Libby Hrlic;
BBQ: Shana Visnick; WWW: Stewart Lee; Ag. and Bio Rep: Lindsay Dacus; Advisor:
Dr. Carl Thompson; Co-Advisor: Dr. Harold Hupp.
These individuals had been busy all summer and their work showed when the students returned for classes. In August, we jumped right into the swing of things by holding our annual Welcome Back Cookout for the College and started working on our yearly fund raiser of salting hams. We managed to squeeze a meeting and a parade in also.
During September, we continued our salt procedures with nearly 85% of the club participating whenever possible. Our Rodeo committee was also busy holding weekly bull ridings at the Clemson Rodeo Club Arena.
Once October rolled around, things started heating up. Ten members went to several County and State Fairs, bringing home several trophies and the top trophy at the state level. Weekends turned into a time to...work. We worked several cattle sales, and the IPRA Rodeo still had people wanting to join our club after initiation. After completing 10 hours of B&B service and passing a test, we had 20 new initiates. For Halloween, we sponsored a "Trick or Treatn'" party for the local kids; it was a blast!!!
When November came by, we were selling hams and helping sponsor the S.C. Cattleman's Association Convention. Several members strived to make everything flow smoothly and sacrificed themselves to do so. We also went on our annual Ag Tour, travelling to Murphy Family Farms in N.C.
With Christmas right around the corner and exams coming up, we decided to hold our Christmas Banquet the first weekend of December so that everyone could prepare for exams and tie up loose ends preparing for the National Convention in St. Louis in January.
In January, 42 members went to St. Louis for the annual convention; many others participated in our Bull clipping and rodeo concessions. Also on our agenda was a workday for several of our facilities (barn, arena, and pastures).
During February, 75% of our members got up at 5:00 a.m. every morning to help the freshmen with their breaking and training class...boy what fun!!! We managed to find 15 more initiates that were anxious to join our club. Our weekends began to fill up again with working cattle sales, getting ready for our initiation, and still working with the heifers.
March ended up slowing down a little for us and we needed it. We still had work to do in order to be ready for the Little North American show and the annual FFA convention that we sponsored. We also sponsored "Kiddie Day," our petting zoo for 8,000 elementary kids from 3 surrounding counties.
By this time, things were wrapping up and drawing close to an end. We still had a few things left in us though. We held our annual banquet and had nearly 200 people show up. The LNA Show went off without any problems and our reunion dinner was just as good. A new slate of officers was elected and they were introduced at the banquet.
