The luncheon was held at a restaurant called O’Brien’s Irish Pub near the Florida State Fairgrounds on the day of the dairy-cow show. However the cow show was abbreviated because of the avian flu. Nevertheless, the luncheon was not. We had an hour of pre-lunch socializing about “old times,” a nice lunch and a presentation. Some even held out later for more conversation.

Our presenter was a young lady from Ontario, Canada. Madison “Maddy” Dyment is just finishing her doctoral degree at the University of Florida in agricultural education and communication. She started her college education at the University of Kentucky for her bachelor’s degree and then went on to The Ohio State University for her master’s degree. Along the way she represented the United Kingdom – who only had a team because of her! – at the 2019 World Dairy Expo’s Intercollegiate Dairy Judging Contest. She won top honors in both placings and reasons. Winning both is a somewhat rare accomplishment. This fall she will join the faculty as an assistant professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.