The 2017 A.C. “Whitie” Thomson Memorial Award was awarded to Gord Rendle and Ridley Wikkerink of Stanhope-Wedgwood Holsteins in Victoria and Cobble Hill, B.C. by the Thomson Family at the 2017 World Dairy Expo®. The award honors a herdsman or showman who exhibits exemplary leadership and sportsmanship throughout the show. The Stanhope-Wedgwood show string travels nearly 2,100 miles each year to attend World Dairy Expo.
Stanhope-Wedgwood is a partnership of two farms located 45 minutes apart on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The partnership began 30 years ago and combines two of British Columbia’s most respected families and Holstein herds. Their shared passion for breeding and developing show winning cows based on strong cow families has yielded them countless showring victories and All-Canadian and All-American awards.
Coming from their premier herd of show cattle, both men have had many victories at World Dairy Expo. In 1999, they showed 15-year-old, Rainyridge Tony Beauty to Grand Champion and Supreme Champion Honors. Additionally, they have developed several other winners at Expo including most recently Silveridge Damion Camomile, the 2011 Intermediate and Reserve Grand Champion.
Both Rendle and Wikkerink have contributed their talents to World Dairy Expo as Wikkerink was the official judge and Rendle, the associate judge, for World Dairy Expo’s International Holstein Show in 2004. Both men are each two-time Master Breeder recipients in their own right and are past winners of Canada’s Curtis Clark Achievement Award presented at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
For over five decades, the global dairy industry has been meeting in Madison, Wis. for World Dairy Expo. Crowds of nearly 75,000 people from more than 100 countries attended the annual event in 2016. WDE will return Oct. 3-7, 2017 as attendees and exhibitors are encouraged to “Discover New Dairy Worlds.” Visit worlddairyexpo.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@WDExpo or #WDE2017) for more information.
