Wood Wins Overall Collinsworth Award

Brattleboro, Vt. (February 8, 2007)…Clayton Wood, Littlestown, Pa., has been named the 2006 Overall Judi Collinsworth Outstanding Junior Exhibitor Award winner by Holstein Association USA. Wood is the third Junior Holstein member to win this prestigious honor, competing with four others for the title. The semi-finalists included: Linda Behling, Fox Lake, Wis.; Craig Blough, Goshen, Ind.; Brian Coyne, Spring Valley, Wis.; and Maureen Lee, Johnson Creek, Wis.

Wood is the 20-year-old son of Steve and Chrissy Wood of Littlestown, Pa. He was awarded the Collinsworth Award at the Premier National Junior Holstein Show at the All-American Dairy Show, Harrisburg, Pa., September 18, 2006. Wood has received many awards, including being named a 2004 Young Distinguished Junior Member Finalist and being the only national member to place in the top three of the prepared public speaking contest in all three age divisions. Currently a sophomore at Cornell University majoring in animal science, Wood has definite plans to stay involved with the dairy industry and Registered Holsteins.

"I am absolutely blessed to be the Overall Judi Collinsworth Award winner,” Wood said. “Judi Collinsworth did so much for the Holstein youth activities that we have come to enjoy. These Holstein activities have helped mold me into the person I am today, and the same is true for every other Holstein Junior member who has participated in this great organization. This organization has prepared me more than any other program I have been a part of. Other organizations can not give you the same experience you can receive by being a Holstein Junior member."

The Judi Collinsworth Outstanding Junior Exhibitor Memorial Award was presented to deserving applicants at each of the seven 2006 National Junior Holstein Shows. Each winner was selected based on sportsmanship, herdsmanship and level of participation in Holstein activities and awarded $100. The seven winners were invited to apply for the Overall Judi Collinsworth Outstanding Junior Exhibitor Award, a $500 scholarship.

Since 1994, 115 outstanding Junior Holstein members have been presented the award named for Judi Collinsworth, the former Holstein Association Executive Director of Member and Industry Services who passed away in 1993 of cancer. Collinsworth was dedicated to improving and expanding Holstein youth programs and was a driving force behind increasing support for those programs.

Applications for the Judi Collinsworth Outstanding Junior Exhibitor Memorial Award are available online at www.holsteinusa.com or at each of the eight 2007 National Junior Holstein Shows. For more information on Holstein Association Junior activities, please contact Kelli Dunklee at 800-952-5200, ext. 4124.

Holstein Association USA, Inc., www.holsteinusa.com, provides products and services to dairy producers to enhance genetics and improve profitability–ranging from registry processing to identification programs to consulting services. The Association, headquartered in Brattleboro, Vt., maintains the records for Registered Holsteins^SM and represents more than 30,000 members throughout the United States. The Association is also leading the initiative for national animal identification through the National FAIR program.