June 16th found the Nova Scotia Angus organizers and their PEI assistants busy registering delegates to the 104th annual meeting of the Canadian Angus Association at the Westin Hotel in Halifax. National Angus meetings are arranged on an eight year rotation. In the Maritimes , as is our usual pattern, the three provinces take their turn within the eight year plan. In 2002 PEI Angus hosted the meeting in Charlottetown, in 1994 the NB group played host in Moncton, NB. The last time Nova Scotia was host was in 1986. At that time meetings were held in February and the Canadian delegates were blasted with a wicked Maritime blizzard and had an extended visit in Truro.

With meetings moved to June, this years hosts did not need to worry about blizzards. However, economic times did present some fund raising challenges. Finances not withstanding, the planners had a fun filled and entertaining schedule in place. Meetings started early on June 17th and the non-meeting attendees had a full day of 'taking in the sights of Halifax Waterfront'. The theme of 'Wander the Waterfront' played out with a Tall Ship Cruise for those in attendance on the 17th. A three hour cruise aboard the Tall Ship Silva with all the food you could eat was a President's Reception to be remembered. Well known Nova Scotia fiddler Fleur Mainville entertained the guests as they cruised around the 'ritcey shores' of Halifax's south end.

Meetings again started at 7 am on the 18th but those not locked into meeting mode Friday offered a seven hour guided tour to the Annapolis Valley, with visits to wineries, lobster pounds, Grand Pre National historic site and cheese sampling. Friday evening delegates were piped down the street by a Pictou County piper to enjoy a lobster feast at Murphy's on the Water. The evening started off with the public speaking competition for the Canadian Junior Ambassador competition and was followed with the 'parading of the lobster' .CEO Doug Fee was given a 'personal lesson' on how to eat lobster by the Murphy's staff !!! Musical entertainment for the evening was provided by more Pictou County talent, highland dancer Kelsey MacKenzie, singer and song writer John Spyder MacDonald and the Putnam family-father, mother and daughter providing a wide variety of East Coast music.

The actual annual general meeting of the Association was on Saturday, the 19th. The day got off to a rousing start with guest speaker Bill Carr and his sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always thought provoking anecdotes and messages on dealing with changing times and their impact on all of us. Following coffee the group had a choice of three workshops on very relevant topics in the Angus industry. Delegates could attend two of the three presentations-Linking the Silos of the Beef Industry-Angus in the Retail Market with Vince Gallant and Jeanne Cruikshank - Genomics and Genetic Defects-What you Need to Know with Dr. Jonathan Beever and Kajal Devani - The Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed Program-One Year Later with Frank MacMaster and Michael Latimer. All workshops were well received and many wished they could have attended all three. The afternoon business meeting included all the annual reports and statements of the Association, as well as recognition of the show animals of the year. The Manitoba Angus Association officially invited all attendees to attend the 2011 meeting in Manitoba.

The Gala banquet on Saturday evening included remarks from John MacDonnell, minister of Agriculture for the Province of Nova Scotia, the induction of President John Donaldson and his wife Donna into the 'Order of Good Times', a sumptuous meal of strip loin beef donated by MacMaster's Choice Meats and special awards. Two Angus families were presented with the prestigious '50 Year Award' for raising purebred Angus cattle for 50 consecutive years. Buddy Loane and family of Montague, PEI and the Slezina family of Alberta joined the other 95+ members of this elite group. Honourary President pins were presented for each province and Gary Harron of Ontario was present to accept his Ontario Award and Hilda Colodey of PEI accepted her Maritime Association Award. Others will receive their pins at special events in their own province. A successful fun auction followed the formalities and the evening concluded with a dance with music provided by Bob MacDonald and his Band.

Meetings on Sunday morning of the Board of Directors and the Angus Foundation wrapped up a very successful annual meeting. Kirk Wildman was named President of the Canadian Angus Association for 2010-2011. Gary Harron was chosen President of the Canadian Angus Foundation for the coming year.

As the bookkeeping wraps up, the Nova Scotia Angus Association would like to thank the many sponsors and delegates who made the 104th annual general meeting of the Canadian Angus Association a successful and memorable event.

- Betty Lou Scott