75 years in
business – a milestone that few businesses have reached. Yet, COBA/Select Sires
celebrates that exact achievement in 2021. To memorialize the 75th
anniversary, a series of events was hosted in the greater Columbus area June
16-18, 2021. To begin the events, COBA’s board of directors met on Wednesday. An
open house and annual meeting were held for member-owner-customers on Thursday,
a special dinner celebration was hosted for the board and delegates Thursday
evening, and the week was closed out with delegate meetings on Friday morning.
The open house was
kicked off with guests visiting the newly renovated COBA/Select Sires office in
Columbus, Ohio. At Select Sires Inc., in Plain City, Ohio, the event continued
with a bull parade, which lead into lunch by Heflin’s Caterers, and COBA’s
annual meeting. General manager, Duane
Logan, and board president, Chad Steinberger, lead the meeting to update
attendees about the state of the cooperative, events over the last two years,
and the projected future. (Livestreams of the bull parade and annual meeting
are available on COBA’s Facebook page.) Upon conclusion of the meeting, guests
enjoyed touring Select Sires’ facilities and learning more about their
processes and procedures. Member-owner-customers representing all eight states
of COBA’s service territory and Mexico were present to enjoy the festivities.
The special
dinner celebration on Thursday evening, was held at the Hilton Columbus at
Easton. Special guests and distinguished service award recipients were
recognized. Steinberger and Logan addressed the crowd, and ag comedian, Drew
Hastings, engaged the audience with his entertaining humor. Topping the night
was a fun auction to raise money for college scholarships to students whose
families are COBA member-owner-customers.
A total of $10,100 was raised by selling COBA memorabilia, far
surpassing the $2,720 raised at the 50th celebration’s fun auction. Auctioneer
for the evening was Randall Kiko, of Kiko Auctioneers in northeast Ohio, who also
sits on the COBA board of directors. Kiko’s entertaining ringmen for the
auction were Bob Griggs, Kirby Pair, Steve Deam, Tyler Chupp, Chad Steinberger
and Kevin Jorgensen. High-dollar items for the auction included a vintage COBA
thermometer that sold for $2,000, a 1986 gold-plated commemorative plate auctioned for $1,000
and a 50th COBA anniversary sperm cup that sold for $800.
Logan
affirms, “The
$10,100 total is truly remarkable! It once again demonstrates what COBA
is all about. These dollars will all go to support many member-owner-customer
families through scholarships in the name of COBA’s 75th anniversary.
The board of directors and I are very proud of the manner in which COBA
operates as a TRUE COOPERATIVE.” COBA/ Select
Sires wants to say thank you to our generous buyers who participated in the highly
entertaining auction to increase the COBA scholarship funds. COBA continues the
tradition of making dreams reality.
It was standing room only when the bull parade began. Ten bulls were brought out for visitors to catch
a glimpse of and they included, Conway, Payload, Regal, Homecoming, Handshake,
Chrome, Rager-Red, King Royal, Duke and Gold Chip.
14HO15223 Sandy-Valley R Conway-ET
7HO15348 S-S-I Eisaku Payload-ET
7HO12787 Plain-Knoll King Royal-ET
7HO15524 Siemers Handshake 32706-ET
7HO12344 Ri-Val-Re Rager-Red-ET
7HO10921 Mr Chassity Gold Chip-ET
250HO13267 S-S-I Montross Duke-ET
14HO15223 Sandy-Valley R Conway-ET
71E5004 River Valley Cece Chrome-ET
Here are some scenes from the day.