P.C. CattleWomen seek new members in 2015

The Phillips County CattleWomen – formerly the Phillips County CowBelles – has a long and storied history in the area and is currently looking for new members – both female and male – to join their ranks and help educate the public on the importance of beef and beef byproducts.

“Pretty much anything that has to do with farming, ranching and beef,” said Jacy Stolem, the group’s secretary, who extended an invitation for new membership. “It’s a fun organization and it is not only helping Phillips County, but also educating our children on what beef actually is and what it means to the people who live here.”

The organization has chapters at national, state and local levels and in Phillips County they currently boast 27 members that are local-active, and 37 that are local-non active for a total of 64 in all. From hosting lunches to donating to people in times of need, Ann Shettel said that the group benefits the area in many ways.

“I think the organization benefits Phillips County in a lot of ways,” said Shettel, CattleWomen’s treasurer. “We are really active with all the activities we do throughout the year. We provide education in the elementary schools and we also are trying to provide education to adults as well.”

Some of the functions the Phillips County CattleWomen do in the community include donating to the Wrestling Breakfast every year, the CattleWomen Scholarship program, assisting during Gym Shoe Days, the Pie Contest at the Phillips County Ag Day, Farm City Week projects, presentations with area students and donating Christmas Roasts to the Phillips County Food Bank.

“We do a lot of stuff around the county,” said Stolem. “We also buy books and donate them to the outlying schools as well as Hinman Ranch Days. We are also trying to host all the lunches for any of the governmental range tours and we are hosting the lunch for the Veseth Bull Sale coming up on the 18th.”

One upcoming event, new to the P.C. CattleWomen, will take place on Thursday, February 26 when the group is going to the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, Malta Extension to have snacks with the group.

“And we are going to be doing rotation stations after we make snacks with the teenagers,” said Stolem. “We are also going to play Jeopardy, CattleWomen style.”

The group is also looking to start crockpot cooking classes in order to educate people on the proper ways to cook beef and to share new recipes.

“We are looking for help and ideas with that project,” said Stolem. “That is one of the reasons we are doing the membership drive.”

To become a member of the Phillips County CattleWomen, people are encouraged to contact current members, call Shettel at the Phillips County Extension Office (654-243 or attend a meeting.

“We meet every other month,” said Stolem. “Our next meeting is (Thursday) March, 5, at noon at the Bistro.”

A recent change to the Phillips County CattleWomen is a change to the exclusion of men. The group recently changed their bylaws to allow males to join, but so far, only one has.

The yearly fee for a local-active member is $10. To become a local non-active member, the fee is $15 and to become a state ($20) and national member ($60) and a Herdsman fee ($25.)

“If you are local active you can just pay the $10 a year,” said Shettel. “The Herdsman fee goes to pay for legislation and for a lobbyist to help promote anything that has to do with cattle.”

The P.C. CattleWomen Annual Banquet, held in November, is the big fundraiser for the year. This year, the group hosted nearly 100 people – one of the best attendances of all-time – in which Lois Olmstead gave an inspirational speech about what it is like to be a rancher’s wife.