THE ANGUS ANGLE - Alberta Angus Association

HALL OF FAME INTRODUCTION continued
Angus Breed Builders are made up of two forms
of Angus stakeholders:
1) Those individuals, groups or families
who have had tremendous impact on the growth,
promotion and development of Angus cattle in
Alberta, but have not necessarily ever been an
active breeder themselves.
2) Those individuals, groups, businesses
or breeding operations or units that made a truly
significant contribution to the breed and
Association while they were active, even though
they are not now and maybe have not been for
some time.
The inaugural Hall of Fame inductions were held
Saturday, December 3 rd , 2005 in Innisfail. This
year is our second ceremony, and our field of
honourees swells to six. Courtesy of support from
the Canadian Angus Association photographs of
the inductees will be displayed in our CAA office.
In 2006, we have three outstanding inductees to
toast and tribute.
We inducted Geis Angus Farm into the Hall as
Contemporary Breeders, joining Belvin Angus
and Towaw Cattle Co. Awards are not new to the
Geis family as they were recognized as Farm
Family of the Year by Edmonton Northlands in
1982. In 1989, Geis Angus was selected by us as
the Alberta Angus Association Purebred Breeder
of the Year and by the Canadian Red Angus
Promotional Society in 1997. The Geis’s
ambition is to consistently raise high quality,
trouble-free Angus cattle with the ability to gain,
with emphasis on the cow. At the Hall of Fame
ceremony, we took a journey back to see how
Geis Angus got to this historic point.
We celebrated Dick Turner, a man charged with
spreading the Angus message at a time when it
was much less fashionable to wave that Angus
flag. The late 1960’s was a time of protest and
rebirth across North America, and ‘Young Turks’
like Jack Peaker, Don Currie and Dick blazed a
trail for the Angus world as we would come to
know it. Dick’s commitment to Angus would
never waver, however, and he has worn as many
hats as anyone in our business: an editor,
publisher, photographer, marketer, consultant,
sales manager and even sometime breeder. He is
our true ‘Renaissance Man’, and has affected each
and every one in the breed.
duplicated starting in the 1960’s by five ambitious and
visionary young men from Southern Alberta who would
found Red Angus in Canada and thusly change the course
of the Angus breed and the entire cattle and beef
production sector. The Mackenzie Bros. are people we
know… and yet they are true breed pioneers and industry
giants.
Geis Angus, Dick Turner, Mackenzie Bros. - three
inductees… each a modern-day legend and for time
everlasting. Their contribution and commitment has
shaped our breed and our industry. They are trendsetters
and pioneers, movers and shakers. They are… our Hall of
Famers!
AAA HALL OF FAME INDUCTION –
‘Contemporary’
Geis Angus Farm
Geis Angus Farm is made up of Brian and Kim Geis,
Brian’s mother Erika and her friend Bill, and Brian and
Kim’s two children, Jenna and Robert. Geis Angus is a
family operation with no off farm income. Their entire
living is made from Angus cattle, their cow herd's strength
and the power of individual cow families within the herd
that they have developed over the past 30+ years.
Brian’s grandfather, Henry Gerloff, lived in Germany and
immigrated to Canada in 1928. He and his wife
homesteaded on the Geis family’s current home quarter 13
miles west of Barrhead. Brian’s parents, Don and Erika,
got married and purchased what is now the Geis Angus
Farm from Erika’s folks in 1957.
A dairy herd was the primary source of income and the
Geis dairymen developed strong and keen work ethics.
Don was among the first dairy operators in the area to start
breeding cows through A.I., and by breeding the first calf
Holstein heifers to Angus bulls, a flirtation between Angus
and the Geis family had begun.
The first purebred Angus were purchased in 1975 as 4-H
projects for Brian and his sisters, Darlene and Brenda.
They didn’t have much luck with those first purchases: the
best one died, one came open that first fall and the final
one turned out to be a poor producer. Things changed
rapidly, however, when the Geis family sought guidance
and advice from local Angus breeders Ed & Irene
Molzahn. Many herds were toured, and with Don’s good
eye and Ed & Irene’s assistance, a quality herd was started
continued…