KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is visiting with the president of the Oklahoma CattleWomen, Cheyenne Sparks about being awarded the American National CattleWomen Beef Promotor of the year at the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention in New Orleans.
“I was completely surprised,” Sparks said. “I did not see it coming whatsoever.”
ANCW has three awards they give out annually including the Beef Promotor of the Year Award, the Educator of the Year Award, and the Outstanding Cattlewoman of the Year Award, all of which were awarded to members of the Oklahoma CattleWomen this year.
Ddee Haynes was awarded Educator of the Year, Desta Crawford was awarded Outstanding Cattlewoman of the Year and Sparks received the Beef Promotor of the Year award.
Sparks is the public relations chairman for the ANCW and has been involved in CattleWomen organizations for many years, she said, as she grew up in the organization. Starting with the collegiate CattleWoman organization at Oklahoma State University, Sparks then got involved with the Oklahoma CattleWoman where she now serves as the president.
“Accumulation of all of that kind of led up to this award, and I can’t even express how exciting it was to, yes, have that recognition, but more so, that there were women in that room that I look up to that put my name on that list,” Sparks said.
Sparks also talked about the Educator of the Year recipient, Ddee Haynes.
“Education is one of the three main pillars of the American National CattleWomen,” Sparks said. “It is clear that ANCW upholds the belief that our children are absolutely vital to our future. So, throughout all of her years of involvement, Ddee has been an exemplary ideal of this. She has assisted in the creation of hundreds of beef producers and advocated from elementary children to collegiates through the Oklahoma Beef Advocate Program. I have been able to watch her through all of this and learn from her, so (it is) well deserved.”
Sparks said the Outstanding CattleWoman of the Year recipient, Desta Crawford, has been a valued mentor of hers over the years.
“Joining as a young student, myself, I had the honor of learning from them both,” Sparks said. “With Desta, I have been mentored by her and all of these other women from across the country, but with her, I am proud to share that she was on that list.”
To be a recipient of the ANCW awards, Sparks said, takes time and effort to put your best foot forward for ANCW.
“We do this because we love it, and we do this because it is something that we truly believe in and it is just a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of really getting to be and do what we love doing, and that is promoting and supporting the beef industry,” Sparks said.
Regarding the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention, Sparks said, being able to fellowship with Cattlewomen from across the country was one of the highlights from the trip, along with the ANCW meetings that took place at the beginning of the week, and the NCBA meetings later on in the week.
This spring, the Oklahoma CattleWomen have many events coming up, which can be found on the website under events.
“We have got our big Region IV and WIRED event happening in early May on May fifth and sixth and we are really excited about that,” Sparks said.
