Inside this Issue

Page 2-5…………Captain Eric Stilwell

Page 6………………...Jim Miller Visit

Page 6……..Keep them Doggies Movin

Page 7……….………......Andrea Jones

Page 8…………….....Season’s Harvest

Page 9……………..…….…….Roll’em

Page 10…………….....Lewis Copeland

Page 11. Mark Cole & Deborah Barber

Page 12…….Mr. Mac & Joseph Taylor

Page 13………...Normandy Dairy 1980

Page 14………..Headed to Vet School!

Page 14……………… Rachel DiPietro

Page 15…………..Summer Dairy Crew

Page 16………………Amy Hirshmann

Page 17…..Ben’s past Student Workers

Page 18-19……...Alyssa’s Photo Shoot

Rollin’s Dairy Staff

Ben Wilson/Dairy Supervisor

bwilson@berry.edu

706-346-5758

Dr. Goldberg/Berry Veterinarian

mgoldberg@berry.edu

Sarah Baker/Dairy Graduate Assistant

Tim Hutchinson/RR Manager/Writer

Kim Treese/Design

June 2010 Vol.4, Issue 8

Welcome to the Ruminant Report!

June 2010, Page 1 of 19

“New Opportunities” Each year in May nature presents “new opportunities”. As you can see in the picture the miracle of birth occurs producing a new crop of future “trophy bucks” that will one day be-come the magnificent stags roaming about Berry College’s vast property! Another event consistently occurs on college campuses across the country each May as well; “Graduation”! This activity generates a new group of “trophy citizens” ready to contribute positively to the bottom line of society, such as Captain Eric Stilwell. Even though we are in times of tough economic stress the world goes forward. There are plenty of new opportunities awaiting us if we consciously choose to look for them. Histori-cally those who get out of bed each morning looking for ways to be productive and engaged will not only improve themselves, they will improve the well-being of those around them. So the challenge is for each of us is to scan our “internal radars” for those new opportuni-ties each day. We at Berry College Dairy work hard to present students with opportunities that will enable them to be contributors to society as professionals serving the animal health, welfare, and production industry; veterinarians, nutritionists, geneticists, domestic and international leaders of the global food chain. At the recent Berry College commencement ceremony the salutatorian challenged her fel-low classmates to have faith in themselves as they proceed out into the world. The key note speaker outlined three steps to apply in daily living which will yield a positive contribu-tion to society: explore, create, and inspire. All four words focus on individual choices that will lead to new opportunities. Let each of us do our part by governing our thoughts each day and recognize that our conduct effects those around us! By: Ben Wilson

Berry’s Ruminant Report

Who’s your Mama?

Berry Alumni

June 2010, Page 2 of 19

“ A Viking For Good?” According to Merriam-Webster Online, a Viking is a pirate Norsemen who plundered the coasts from the sea, but Captain Eric Stilwell, US Navy, works to

secure our maritime environment for the good of the Nation and the world.

CAPTAIN

Eric Lee Stilwell

It was awfully early that 1979 winter morning, and I don’t remember how I knew that he needed help milking. But, the one thing I did know about “Uncle Luther” (Mr. Miller) was that he would be milking those cows if he had to do it alone at the Normandy Dairy Barns. It was a night of foul winter weather. The frozen precipitation came down like ice ball barings. It started as sleet, as perfect rounds of ice, and continued all night topping off with about two inches of real snow some 12 or 15 inches later. Another thing of which I was certain was that Uncle Luther would walk all the way to the Normandy Dairy to milk that Jersey herd on time. No one else could get up to the dairy from the main campus in a farm truck or any other conveyance. I must have called the dairy and found that he was there alone. Knowing him, he probably spent all night there. The details are sketchy thirty years later, but as I recall, I was the only one who could make it through that weather in my half Dodge, half Ply-mouth, half green and half orange “farm mobile.” With all my personal tools in the trunk for weight, and air shocks to lift it above the snow, it was perfect. I didn’t officially work for the Normandy Dairy, but I’d fixed a lot of pumps and valves and farmed a lot of ground up there as needed. I usually worked

beef cattle, farming and farm shop down on campus near the feed mill spend-ing time visiting with Uncle Luther working for him anytime he needed my help. He needed my help that night, and I was most honored to serve. Ray Larsen and the beef cattle crew usually made fun of my little farm car, but it got me through to the end of my Berry College experience and even towed my home (a 16 foot travel trailer with all my earthly belongings) back to Florida. Then, that old car took me back to Jacksonville, Florida, where I raised my right hand and repeated, “I, Eric Lee Stilwell, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to

the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reser-vation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully dis-charge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” I finished my Animal Science Degree at Berry College and was heading off for a new adventure. How did I ever end up at Berry College? Better asked, how did I ever launch my Navy career from Berry College? Well, I never thought I’d join the Navy, much less go to col-lege. In high school I didn’t think I had what it took to tackle either nor had I scant knowledge of how big or accessible was the world. So, on a youthful dare, I left home to attend a two year, state supported agricultural college. They say that the good is the enemy of best, and by the end of my first college year I had discovered that I needn’t settle for a good college when

there was one great college that would provide for me my best future. I also learned in that first year that college was not quite the onerous task I feared nor was the world as smart, or as unreachable, as I had once con-jured. The world might be accessible to me, and Berry College was to be my best, and next, destiny.

Learning of Berry College was an “alumni thing.” There is no end to the number of great programs for college outreach but without a doubt, firsthand, alumni experience face-to-face can’t be beat! I was living away from home attending that State college so my parents came up for a visit in the first month. They were returning from a North Georgia camping trip, but they didn’t come to me empty handed. They handed me a brochure about Berry Col-lege and Dad said, “You need to go here.” Dad and Mom had just left the tens of thousands of acres of Berry campus, and they wouldn’t stop gushing over it. “Where did this idea come from,” I asked my dad. He said, “Well, before Sunday school class, our Brevard County Ex-tension Agent told us about this place.” That county agent told Dad I just had to go to Berry College. Well, our county agent was none other than, Lowell Loadholtz (60C), arguably the best, award winning recruiter for Berry College.

Mr. Miller

Ray Larsen

Eric Lee Stilwell

Berry Alumni

June 2010, Page 3 of 19

Now, I needed to find a way to first be accepted at Berry College and then find a way to pay for a school with a price tag three times that of the State college. I was brought up by God fearing parents who ingrained in me a personal work ethic. My ethic was based on individual freedom, conjoined with personal respon-sibility and both under the omnipotent umbrella of God’s Providence. That was sort of a life narrative for me, and it fit well with Berry College’s purpose. From my Christian perspective, it certainly rang true with Martha Berry’s motto lifted straight from scripture, “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister." I really wanted to go to Berry College, but how? Dr. Moore, the head of Berry’s agriculture depart-ment at the time, talked with me, encouraged me and then pointed me in the direc-tion of Hermann Hall. Because of my view of personal responsibility I determined to make my college attendance “pay as you go” without financial aid, but by my own efforts alone, I could never afford to attend. I refused to be a tax burden for aid as a means of funding my education so I wrote the Berry College Registrar a simple letter. I expressed my desire to attend Berry College but only if there was a private person or corporate donor who would choose to help me and one who would prefer a thank you note from a beneficiary rather than another burden on our overtaxed society of the 70s. In two months I received scholarships amounting to about one half of what was necessary to attend Berry College. Great! I have been accepted to attend Berry College with a benefactor, but it also meant I had to reach deeper down into that “personal responsibility” to work part and full time at various jobs both on and off the Berry College Campus. God is good!

Now, I am in my 31st year of a Navy career so you might ask, “How’s that agriculture degree working out for you in the Navy?” You’d be surprised. Today, I use the knowledge gleaned from my animal science degree in every aspect of my teaching and academic writing, and over the last thirty years I’ve applied my Berry College Animal Science Degree to a variety of engagements around the world. Engagements need a bit of explanation so let me first tell you that a lot has changed in the armed forces over these three decades. You may need to ask your political science professor about the world scene and politics of the Cold War period, but needless to say, the US Navy and Military have changed significantly in response to the changes in world order, balance of power, and the types of conflicts we see today. Students may think of the Military only as an organization that kills people and breaks things, but this is a simplistic and incomplete understanding. The US Navy maritime strategy of the twenty-first century states that, “Preventing wars is as important as winning wars.” These are more than modern politics and words on paper because twenty-first century war is the same as it was when the 19th Century great military thinker, Karl Von Clausewitz opined, “War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.” Because the nation’s security interests are driven by culture, politics and our economy the mili-

tary is merely one tool our political leaders have in their “toolbox.”

The US Navy protects our interests internationally through the sea lanes of worldwide trade. I’m sure you are thankful for the low cost food and goods you buy at Wal-Mart, and as an agricultural producer you are certainly grateful for access to overseas markets that buy your farm and ranch commodities. Agricultural economics, commerce and trade all have to do with location, conditions and the accessibility of markets. Over 90% of the world’s trade is shipped by sea and over 80% of the world’s popula-tions live on or near coastline. The Navy retains this mission for the fore-seeable future protecting our trade and other vital national interests, but if the US Navy is to prevent wars as well as win them, we need first to en-

gage with other nations keeping trade routes open for all the world’s markets. Increasingly, over the last 10 years, we have engaged with more and more individual countries and their populations as we have rediscovered that the real people and their cultures are what “state powers” or governments are made of. So often many of these coun-tries seek the same markets and freedoms that we enjoy in the United States.

Engagements are holistically interconnected through the traditional diplomatic, informational, economic and cultural elements of national power and increased multinational cooperation. As an example, the Navy re-cently realigned many traditional military elements into a professional expeditionary force that stitches the seams between the maritime and land component of our nation’s security branches.

Captain Stilwell 2009

Desert Storm Saudi Arabia

Berry Alumni

June 2010, Page 4 of 19

Around the world the US Navy protects our interests by helping countries defend and develop their own markets from the producer to the shipping ports, and we actively assist developing countries establish processes and find the resources to protect their maritime economic zones. These countries have insufficient equipment and trained forces to defend their nation’s coasts from poaching nations, drug traffickers and terror-ist activities. Now, thirty years after my Berry College, Animal Science Degree, I often share the applied sciences of my degree with the current mission of the US Navy.

In order to conduct successful international engagement, the US Navy must work within a framework of the “whole of government” integrating our military role under

the Department of Defense with other US government agencies such as the Department of State, Treasury, Justice and Agriculture only to name a very few. When non-governmental organizations like missionaries or secular groups such as Doctors without Borders, Heifer International and others reach out to developing countries they require diplomatic coop-eration, a secure environment, and often, the US Navy providing security and access. No matter the mission or allegiance of a government or non-government organization, their efforts to benefit a country overtaken by natural or manmade dis-asters require a certain secure environment of stability.

The recent earthquake in Haiti demonstrates a microcosm of mission and support common in today’s Navy. While some ships were in the area, others were dispatched from Florida and Virginia within one or two days. US Navy forces brought hospitals and support sup-plies within days to care for thousands of victims, even before other government and non-government efforts could arrive and work on the island. Yes, aid can be flown in very fast, but while most of the media focused attention on the damaged airport and backlog of aid flights, the US Coast Guard, Navy and Marines were hard at work setting up makeshift ports all along the coast to remove victims from the danger of the urban areas and ferry them out to hospital ships, hospitals aboard ships and to the closest hospitals in Guan-tanamo Bay, Cuba and Miami, Florida. In about a week’s time, the US Navy and Army demolition forces had cleared the damaged Port-au-Prince and the US Coast Guard reset the buoys needed to guide mega tons of aid into the country by ship.

Off the ship, I’ve moved about the countryside all around the world observing and under-standing what I learned at Berry college. All around the world I saw both the application of modern agricultural science and the abiding wisdom of indigenous practices that pro-duce food, fiber and shelter. In Italy, I observed the herds of water buffalo and the mak-ing of that great mozzarella cheese we enjoy. In Korea, I learned about how kimchi is made with dried red peppers baking in the August sun on sidewalks and along the free-

way medians. Many Koreans still make kimchi the old fashioned way on their urban rooftops, but most will tell you they just get their Kimchi from the grocery store freezer section. In Europe, I wrote common sense environmental procedures to sustain agricultural production during military operations. In the Caribbean, I observed the diverse production of spices, sugar, fruits and commercial food production that supplies retail food products to many of the islands from North America to South America.

In the Middle East and Arabian Gulf area, I learned of the market forces that en-tice farmers with direct investment to bring fresh fruits and vegetables into the large cities at cheaper prices than the traditional shipping of goods from India, Australia or East Asia. Here, the economics of demand and cheap water inter-sected and manmade “farms” sprung up out of the whole cloth of arid desert

complete with plastic piped irrigation and shade systems. I also observed the agricultural detritus that remained when that delicate economic balance was upset leaving a collection of clinging, crispy, brown vegetation while cheap oil and larger ships brought in the fresh produce demanded at, again, a reasonable and competitive price. All the while, right next to the unsuccessful, high tech farms were the indigenous farmers who continued to grow crops and raise sheep near the small oasis’ or natural collections of water.

Lifeboat Somalia Pirates 2009

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Buffalo, South Africa

Berry Alumni

June 2010, Page 5 of 19

Recently, my work has centered on Africa where US engagement resulted in both resounding successes and some identifiable failures. The US Navy specifically is engaging with nations through the Africa Partnership Station established to enhance regional and maritime safety and security in West and Central Africa. East of Africa the US Navy works in a task force with other nations to protect international and coastal shipping from piracy. So, accord-ing to the US Africa Command, the US Navy, “in concert with other U.S. government agen-cies and international partners, conducts sus-tained security engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activi-ties, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environ-ment in support of U.S. foreign policy.” Fi-nally, the well stated US Africa Command mis-sion demonstrates a conjoining of my Berry College Agriculture degree and a continuing career in the US Navy. Berry College’s Animal Science Program ultimately finds its way across the seas in the maintenance of US policy that aids the open market, permits the free communication of those markets on the high seas and secures our freedoms in a globalized economy.

Captain Eric L Stilwell, US Navy, is assigned to the Depart-ment of International Security Studies where he serves as an instructor for the National Security and Decision Making and Global Security core courses. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science and Agri-Business from Berry College and a Masters Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Commissioned in 1980 from Officer Candidate School at Newport, R.I. he was subsequently quali-fied as Surface Warfare Officer while serving on USS Sampson (DDG 10) and later served Navigator on USS Wabash (AOR 5). At sea operations included work with other navies across archi-pelagos and areas of operations in the Indian, Pacific and Atlan-tic Oceans, North Sea, Persian Gulf and the Caribbean. He served as Commanding Officer of a small training command and as Executive Officer and later Commanding Officer of a large Navy Training Command. Other tours of duty included two major shipyard periods for upgrade and retrofit of major shipboard pro-pulsion and combat systems. He was the Senior Watch Officer and then Operations Officer for Military Sealift Command, CENTCOM during Desert Storm. Staff duty afloat included Car-rier Group TWO in the aircraft carriers aboard USS INDEPEND-ENCE, USS JF KENENDY and USS SARATOGA in the Medi-terranean and Afloat Preposition Squadron FOUR in the Persian Gulf. Overseas duty included work in Saudi Arabia, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Portugal, Italy, Germany and with the Commander –In-Chief, Ibe-rian Atlantic Area (NATO) (CINCIBERLANT ). Captain Stilwell is a Joint Qualified Officer and has served with US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), US European Command (EUCOM), Special Operations Command, Europe (SOCEUR); and the AFRICOM Transition Team. His support of or participation in major operations include Beirut, Lebanon (1983/84), Central America (1983), URGENT FURY (Grenada 1983), DESERT STORM (1990/91), PROVIDE COMFORT (1991) and SOUTHERN WATCH (1998).

From the Air War College web page: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/facbios/facbio-s.htm#stilwell

Chobe River, Botswana

Berry Alumni & Students

June 2010, Page 6 of 19

Mr. Jim Miller Visits Rollin’s Dairy Berry Alumni

Mr. Jim Miller dropped by to visit the Berry dairy student workers during Alumni Work Week in May. Jim graduated from Berry in 1953 with a Degree in Agriculture. Jim then entered the Army and did a four year tour mostly in Alaska as a Morse Code interpreter. The cold war between the U.S. and Rus-sia was running as cold as ever at that time and Jim’s job was to report all communications crossing the wire on St. Lawrence Island just miles from Rus-sia in the Bering Sea. After his honorable discharge from the army Jim worked on a dairy farm for a year and a half. The farm was owned by a friend of Jim’s who needed help real bad. Then Jim attended college at the University of Tennessee where he graduated with his PHD in Animal Nutrition. He mailed letters all over the country looking for a job, and was hired by Oak Ridge (Site of the Manhattan Project) in Tennessee. His job was to study the Physiology of Milk when exposed to radiation and how iodine en-ters milk. Jim studied the thyroid gland in cows and how radiation damages it. His research was very important to prepare America for a possible nuclear accident. Jim also worked at the University of Tennessee where he performed research on udder edema (overswelling of a cow’s udder at calving). Natural Vitamin E did wonders in controlling this prob-lem Jim discovered in his research. Jim’s Father had graduated from Berry years ago. He really missed Berry and decided to leave Maryland and their forty acre farm to return to Georgia. We are very lucky he made that decision. What a credit Jim Miller is for Berry and our country. Jim says he might write a book on his Berry experience. Oh, by the way. Oak Ridge Laboratory is now home to Jaguar, the fastest Super Computer in the world. That goes to show that only the best work at Oak Ridge.

Keep them Doggies Mov’n!! Spring pastures growing faster than ever with Hal Kilpatrick’s Irrigation System

Kery, Hannah and Ashland professionally moved a group of “soon to freshen” heifers to our new 30 acre back pasture at Rollin’s Dairy. Our spring planting of millet has really jumped out of the ground thanks to the irrigation system do-nated by Hal Kilpatrick this past year. Mr. Kilpatrick is very much appreciated here at Berry for his kindness and gener-osity. Graduating from Berry back in the early 1960’s, Mr. Kilpatrick traveled to Florida and began working for an irri-

gation company installing sprinkler systems. Before he knew it he owned the company. Today, Mr. Kilpatrick is known worldwide for his irrigation systems. There’s more milk in the Berry Dairy Milk Tank this spring thanks to Hal Kilpatrick! The cows and the crew are a happy bunch!

Berry Staff

Andrea loves working in her green houses here at Berry! Standing here with her herb pots she has many great ideas on just how to promote Berry and her Berry stu-dent workers.

Andrea graduated from Middle Ten-nessee State with a degree in Plant and Soil Science with an emphasis on Horticulture. After graduating in 1981 Andrea worked in landscape design. She began working at Berry as a horticulture teacher in 1990. She remembers how happy she was to receive that Berry phone call asking for her help with Berry’s Horticultural department. Horticulture was big at Berry years ago. But now Berry does not offer any de-grees in horticulture. Several students man-aging Berry’s campus including Oak Hill and Winshape hold Horticulture degrees they received from Berry years ago. Andrea is really proud of Berry’s Stu-dent operated Enterprise where students learn to run a business from top to bottom. Andrea has two student enterprises under way now at the green houses. Martha’s Herbs and Season’s Harvest. The students plant, grow and harvest the herbs and vegetables. Then they put together their market-ing plan. They then plan and have their sale here at the green houses. The sales have been a great success! They are making revenue too! Andrea and her students use compost from Berry to produce their many plants. They use as few chemicals as possible. They grow all the flowers needed to decorate Berry for the many occasions. A large potential customer visited Berry a couple weeks ago. I guess they heard what a great job Andrea does growing her herbs and vegeta-bles! Berry has such an agricultural history plus thousands of acres that could once again be utilized to produce fruits, vegetables, beef and milk for Berry’s use and for sale to the public.

Andrea does a great job managing and working her green houses & gardens at Berry. She’s a very knowledgeable teacher and very much admired by her students and co workers. Drop by the green houses behind the Ford Buildings and visit with An-drea sometime. She really knows her plants!

Andrea Jones She Keeps Berry Beautiful

June 2010, Page 7 of 19

Berry College Farmer’s Mar-ket - Third Event!

JULY 24, 7:00am-2:00pm Clara Bowl, Berry College

Campus

Vendors needed!

Would you be interested in selling your produce on the campus of Berry College? Vendor fee required: $10.00 only, payable after set-up. Items allowed: Fresh or home-canned, locally-grown vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, jams, jellies, honey and home baked goods. Items NOT allowed: commercially grown produce, prepared hot food, yard sale items, live potted plants, herbs, seedlings, or transplants. Date: Saturday, July 24th, 2010 Time: 7:00am - 2:00pm Location: Berry College Clara Bowl, Berry College Campus, Rome, GA Vendors are welcomed to arrive and begin setting up as early as 6:00am. Tables are available, but please

provide your own tent if you need one. For further information, please call Andrea Jones, Berry College Horticultural Services, 706-238-7454, or e-mail: ajones@berry.edu " _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ All interested parties please reply by 5:00pm, Wednesday, July 7th, 2010. Please register below, and mail to Andrea Jones, Berry College Horticultural Services, 5003 Berry College, Mt. Berry, GA 30149: Name_____________________________________________________________________ Complete mailing address_______________________________________________ Phone________________________________e-mail______________________________ Brief description of items you would like to sell:_________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Need a table? Please check one: o Yes, I will need a table. o No, I will bring my own table.

June 2010, Page 8 of 19

Berry Horticultural Advertisement

Tom Harris and Nathan Clackum, Berry’s Beef Cattle Managers really went to town in early May round baling their hay which they will feed Berry’s Beef and Dairy herds this next winter. Just a few student workers get a lot of work done mowing, raking, baling and hauling the round bales to the pole barns for storage. Rebecca Broome runs the hay rake in the center top picture. Tom Harris and Caleb Martin run the bobcat and truck hauling the hay. Nathan Clackum runs the hay baler. Nathan instructs Caleb and Rebecca on just how to re-string baling twine in the center lower picture. It’s all work and not much talk here in the hay field. Especially when rain is on the way!

Roll’em Roll’em! Berry Student Workers & Staff

June 2010, Page 9 of 19

The square hay baler was invented in the early 1900s. It took four men just to operate this stationary baling machine. Today, the large round bale machine allows one man to mow, rake, bale and shelter his own hay.

Berry Alumni

Lewis Copeland “Life is a continuation of education.”

Lewis Copeland dropped by the Berry Rollins Dairy the first part of April and helped milk a cow or two and jokingly commented that this was not his first time at milking cows. He graduated from Berry in 1960 majoring in Mathematics with a mi-nor in Physics. The students really enjoyed work-ing and visiting with Lewis. “I don’t know where I would be right now without Berry” Lewis remarked. He was born in Whites-burg, Georgia and grew up nearby in Newnan on an 87 acre row crop farm. His earlier years were spent in Atlanta where his Father worked for the railroad. His father passed away when Lewis was five years old. His mother moved to his maternal grandmother’s farm and his mother worked as a grocery store clerk. “I spent a lot of my teenage days plowing behind a mule”, Lewis reminisced. “He later ran the farm with is Mom and sister.” Lewis arrived at Berry in June of 1955. He began working on the Oak Hill grounds crew and later transferred to the college campus Grounds Crew. “We had an old yellow Case tractor with a chain driven PTO to mow all the campus grounds with back then. Other students worked in the 25 to 30 acre vegetable garden in a field just south of the Ford Buildings. Berry grew most all of its own food plus sold some as well. The boys did most of the field work and the girls worked the offices, dining halls and laundry. Berry taught us good work ethics and made us so appreciative of everything. If you worked all summer your tuition was paid for that year. Then you worked two days a week during school to pay for your room and board. All work was accounted for in hours; no money was involved. We had a touch football game on Mountain Day between the Georgian Literary Society and the Syrreb Literary Society. We also enjoyed swimming, tennis and softball. Varsity sports consisted mainly of basketball and baseball. A weekend dance and a stroll around Victory Lake were shared by the girls and boys at Berry back then. I fell in and out of love twice while at Berry” Lewis smiled and reminisced. Lewis taught high school math and physics for five years after graduating from Berry in 1960. After that he was hired by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta where he was in charge of Bottler Research in the Marketing Re-search Department. He did a lot of traveling around the country assisting various Bottlers with their Marketing Research, determining the type of research, implementing it, analyzing the data and presenting the results to the Bottlers. He also acted as liaison with the A. C. Nielsen Company in marketing research data used by The Coca-Cola Company. Lewis’s last few years with the Company were spent in Mexico, performing a job similar to that for the U. S. Bottlers, helping the Mexican Bottlers improve their sales and market share. Many Berry students of the 50’s and 60’s did very well after graduating from Berry. With the space race at full throttle, some students worked for NASA in Houston, Texas as well as Redstone in Huntsville, Alabama. Others went to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority which built reservoirs in Tennessee for flood control and hydro electric power to bring affordable electricity to the rural areas of the south. Lewis has held several positions in the Berry Alumni Association. He was Vice President of the Berry Alumni Association, Chairing the Alumni Awards Committee; Council Member at Large; Work Week Coordinator along with many other contributions to Berry. Lewis remarked earlier, “I don’t know where I would be now without Berry.” I’m sure Berry feels the same way about Lewis. He’s an inspiration and a very dedicated alumnus!

June 2010, Page 10 of 19

Berry Alumni

Mark Cole Berry Alumni

Mark Cole (80C) is a partner of L.W. Cole Farm in Chilhowie, Virginia, lo-cated in the Southwest corner of the state. Mark and his brother, Weaver, are the fourth generation to farm the 1000 acre family-owned and rented land. Farm op-erations include both dairy and beef herds and crops. The Grade A dairy milks between 60 and 70 cows. Holsteins are the pre-dominant breed. Heifers are raised for replacements and steers are sold when they reach 500 pounds. The milk sells through the Maryland - Virginia coopera-tive. The beef herd is a cow/calf operation that consists of 135 Angus/Gelbvieh cross cows. Calves are usually sold via tele-auction in the Fall. Crops consist of corn and hay. Sixty acres of corn are grown for silage and 10 are for grain. The farm also grows alfalfa and grass hay. Mark is married to Lesu (Tubbs) (80C) and they have a daughter, Ellen, who is finishing her freshman year at Berry. They live in a 108 year old farm house that was built by Mark’s paternal great-grandparents. Their family is

rounded out by two dogs, one cat and three geriatric horses. Mark was the senior member of the 1980 Berry Dairy Crew shown here in the picture on the left. Mark is pictured second from the left between Barry Geisel and Reed Biggers. Cathy Kitchens, Tim Hutchinson and Mr. Luther Miller along with Berry’s Generator Coastal Cow 73 which held high-est milk and butter fat production records ever at Berry at that time (18,000 lbs of milk and 890 lbs of butter fat in one year). Mark was President of Berry’s Agricultural Club. Mark has many great memories at the Normandy Dairy. Like the time a cow walked up the stairway in one of the old barns and was looking out the barn loft door mooing! Mr. Miller had his arms out like he was going

to catch her if she tried to jump! I can’t remember how we ever got the cow down from the loft. I guess she fig-ured it out herself!

Deborah graduated from Berry in 2003 with an Animal Science Degree. She was then accepted to Mississippi State and graduated in 2008 with her Veteri-nary Degree. Deborah then headed for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where she now practices small animal medicine. Deborah’s parents first brought her to Berry when she was 12 years old. They would spend weekends riding their bikes all over Berry’s beautiful campus. Deborah became interested in veterinary medicine when her horse had to have surgery at UGA and Deborah was able to watch. Deborah is one of the few Berry students that have had the privilege to work both at Berry’s original Normandy Dairy and Berry’s new Rollins dairy. Deborah recently married Doug, a Marine Corps aviator that flies F/A-18 “Hornets” near her home and practice. Wedding pictures in next issue!

Deborah Barber, DVM Berry Alumni

June 2010, Page 11 of 19

Berry Alumni & Student Worker

Jesse Martin McElyea “Mr. Mac”

I met Mister Mac walking down Rollins Road during Berry Alumni Work Week. He was enjoying the beautiful trees and pastures at the Berry Rollins Dairy. “I just celebrated my sixtieth anniversary” Mister Mac remarked. No, not my wedding or graduation anniversary, but the anniversary of the day I first found Berry.” Mister Mac grew up in Northern Alabama. In 1949 he wrote a letter to Ed Dickey asking if he could attend Berry Schools. Mister Mac was accepted and began school at Berry soon after. “I met my wife Barbara here at Berry too”, Mister Mac remi-nisced. “Barbara majored in Home Economics and I majored in English. I worked on the forestry crew here at Berry. I re-member a big tree fell in the reservoir up on Lavender Mountain after a tornado had struck the mountain. There was no road to that side of the lake to reach the fallen tree so we built a raft to paddle out and cut up the tree and float the logs out. We also use to load pulp wood logs on trucks and off load the pulp wood logs onto rail cars. All of this work was done by hand. Two

loads in the morning and one load in the afternoon. W.S. Black was the head forester at Berry back then. He was a great man.”

Mister Mac always wanted to teach school. That was his true passion. He was hired after graduating Berry in 1953 at Johnson and Model High Schools here in Rome. He taught for 31 years before retiring. “I always accepted my students as they were”, Mister Mac remembered, “I never judged them but instead had respect for them as human beings.”

What a simple philosophy for us to follow in life. Don’t judge others and have respect for them as human beings. I’ll always remember the day I met Mister Mac.

Joseph Taylor “Never a Dull Moment” Joseph and “Big Red” pulled a lot of us out of the mud last winter. Joseph even pulled a school bus out of a lake with his heavy duty Chevy and wench he personally installed on the front bumper. He bought “Big Red” with money he raised from selling some of his cows back home. Joseph always offers a smile, kind word and a helping hand around the Rollins Dairy and on campus. Joseph is from Cropwell, Alabama. He comes from a large farming family. His Dad owns a trucking company and personally has 2.5 mil-lion miles of safe driving record on his commercial driver’s license. Joseph’s family owns and farms many acres of soybeans in Alabama. Also they manage a large herd of beef cattle on their farm. Joseph has been working at the Rollin’s Dairy for one year. He did a lot of the feeding at the dairy last summer, fall and spring. It’s not uncommon to see Joseph and “Big Red” anywhere on campus per-forming chores for the agricultural department. Joseph just finished helping to plant the millet on the new 30 acres at the Rollins Dairy. He did a great job planting and we really have a great stand of millet now growing. Joseph delivered some bad news awhile back though. He’s headed to Auburn University this next fall. He wants to be closer to home. We will have to depend on Ben (Rollin’s Dairy Supervisor) for all our entertainment now! Best of luck to you Joseph! Hope you will stop in and see us again soon! We will be thinking of you when we bury the ole farm truck in pasture four this next winter!

June 2010, Page 12 of 19

Berry Memories

Berry’s Normandy Dairy 1980

June 2010, Page 13 of 19

View of Normandy from Possum Trott Berry Jerseys resting at Normandy

Ready and waiting for the afternoon milking. Happy Berry Jerseys!

“Berry Heifers" just calved, waiting at Feed Bunk.

Summer of 1980 view of Berry Jerseys enjoying the shade at Normandy

Berry Students

You’ve been Accepted!

One of the Berry Dairy’s most dedicated student workers is Rachel DiPietro. This is Rachel’s third summer working at the dairy. She performs most all responsibilities from milking the cows, feeding, managing the calf barn to being a student shift leader. Rachel looks forward to attending Vet School after graduating from Berry. In this picture Rachel posses with “Hershey” our latest addition to the Berry Jersey Herd. “Hershey is know to be an escape artist in the calf barn.” She is so small no calf pin there can hold her in. Rachel & Her-shey along with other student workers just fin-ished giving a tour of the dairy to Amy Rollins the Granddaughter of Mr. Rollins that donated the Rollins Research Center to Berry years ago.

Outstanding Student Worker

Berry Graduates accepted to Vet School this fall are: Kristin Cobb Ross U Sydney Brehm UGA Taryn Mc Donald UGA Kristen Ruffner UGA Ashlee Chapman UGA Elizabeth Crook VA Tech Kim Crosslin UGA Amber Palmer UGA Anna Rahn U Wisconsin

June 2010, Page 14 of 19

The Summer Dairy Crew

Here we see Caleb Martin and Hannah Valencia re-moving the pipeline from the milk tank just after eve-ning milking. Caleb is a sophomore Animal Science Major from Chatsworth, Georgia. He works for Berry Angus and The Berry Dairy. Caleb is taking two chemistry classes this summer. Hannah is an Exercise Science Major from Helen, Georgia. Hannah has been a Berry Dairy student worker for a good while. “She is a student shift leader. Hannah is known to sing a lot while milking!”

Here we see Kery Ferrell from Lithonia, Georgia showing one of her favorite Berry Heifers. Kery works most all jobs here at the dairy from milking, midnight checks, feeding calves and pretty much whatever needs doing. Kery is taking a class in Zoology (Biology) this summer as well as working full time at the Berry Dairy. She also lives in the apartment above the dairy and is available for dairy emergencies (late night calving mostly).

Here we see Sarah Baker treating the foot of a Berry Jersey. This procedure is taking place in the Berry Dairy Hospital Room. Ben Wilson on the right is Berry’s Dairy Supervisor. Rachel, Hannah and Caleb are pictured in the background learning one of the many veterinary procedures taught here at Berry . Sarah is a Berry Graduate Student and has been performing several different veterinary proce-dures since Dr. Goldberg (Berry’s Veterinarian) has been visiting family in South Africa. This training is why better than 90% of Berry Animal Science Graduates are accepted to Veterinary Schools around the country each year.

“Milk’n at Berry”

“Show’n at Berry”

“ Doctor’n at Berry”

“ Mak’n Great Friends at Berry!” Rebecca Broome and Stephanie Blythe work together with Berry Angus Student Enterprises. Rebecca is from Cartersville, Georgia and transferred to Berry this summer from Mercer University. She is a freshman Animal Science Pre-Vet student here at Berry. Rebecca enjoys running the tractor and rake in the Berry hay fields! Stephanie is a Senior Animal Science Pre-Vet Major. She is from Acworth, Georgia and graduates this December. Stephanie loves all aspects of Berry! She is really looking forward to attending Vet School after graduating from Berry. Large animal practice is her preference. Dr. Daniel has been a real mentor for Stephanie here at Berry. She has such a positive attitude and is such a great example for other students to follow here at Berry. We need more students and student workers like Rebecca & Stephanie!

Berry Student Workers

June 2010, Page 15 of 19

Amy Hirschmann Berry Dairy Pasture Manager

Amy is a Junior Animal Science Major from Charleston, South Carolina. She was hired as Pasture Manager for the Berry Dairy this summer. What a great job Amy is doing! From running the Hal Kilpatrick Irrigation System that delivers the manure and water from the dairy to the many dairy pastures to bush hogging (mowing) the many pas-tures, to repairing fences, to running the bobcat and to chasing wild heifers that escape through open gates, Amy does it all! Amy loves sports and has a black and white cat named “Gateway”. Keep up the great work Amy!!

Irrigating crops is one of the oldest farming techniques dating back to The Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Today in the world over 689 million acres of land are irrigated. 68% in Asia , 17% in the Americas, 9% Europe and 5% in Africa.

Student Worker

June 2010, Page 16 of 19

Ben’s past Student Workers just keep coming back!

Ben and Yuko Sato pose together here with the Berry Jerseys at Rollin’s Dairy. Yuko just finished her second year of Vet School at Perdue. She graduated from Berry in 2008. Yuko also graduated from Japan’s International School. Her Dad received a pamphlet from Berry and decided Yuko should visit and take a good look at Berry. “Everyone was so friendly at Berry” Yuko remarked. “We stayed at the cottages and even spent the night in one of the dorms during our visit. We shared meals with the students at Valhalla! It was great!” Yuko arrived at Berry without a clue on just what her major would be. That was before she met Dr. Goldberg! “He said I need to sign up for more science classes and work with Ben at The Rollins Dairy” Yuko remembers. “I knew then I wanted to attend vet school!” Yuko spent a day or two of her visit last week milking and helping out on the dairy. What an inspiration she is for the Berry Dairy Crew and all the students here at Berry! Yuko is such a great example of what you can accomplish in life with determination and a positive attitude! She’s always smiling!

Kristy Moniz graduated from Berry in 2008 and just finished her second year of Vet School at the University of Georgia. Kristy is from Hawaii. In the picture to the left Kristy re-unites with one of her favorite cows here at Berry. “She really remembers me” Kristy remarks! One thing you really notice about Kristy is she has such initiative. She really knows how to do a job right the first time!

Ben helped Kristy locate a job in New York working the summer at a small family dairy farm. Kristy has re-turned to The Berry Dairy for a few refresher courses on how to operate the dairy farm equipment. Here Ben instructs Kristy on the safe way to operate a tractor and Bush Hog. “Safety is number one, Ben remarks!”

Kristy Moniz

Ben & Yuko

June 2010, Page 17 of 19

Berry Alumni Student Workers

How to Take Portraits with Cows

By Alyssa Hollingsworth

There is nothing like trekking through mud, stepping in cow paddies and trying to keep your camera from being eaten. Such has been my experience when I take portraits of Berry Dairy student workers in their work environment. There is one thing I see in common between the Dairy workers: They all love the ani‐mals. I have enjoyed trying to capture this love for the cows in my portrait photography.  

Six months ago, I had never dreamed of doing photography with large animals. But since I came to Berry College, I have been broadening my horizons. Photographing my friends with their large buddies is just one part of my new learning experiences. Cows can be hard to work with, but below you will find some tips to help you make your cow pictures the best they can be.  

                                                  Go with the Light  

When taking photographs of large (or small) animals, you have to expect them to move around. If the lighting is too dark, this will create motion blur in your pictures. The last thing you want is to go home and find that all of the pictures you labored over are actually blurry.  

The best times to take pictures are after sunrise to ten o’clock in the morning, or from about four to sunset in the evening (provided it is not cloudy out‐side). Around noon, the overhead sun creates unflattering lighting on a per‐son’s face. But when there is cloud cover, the lighting is not so harsh. By keep‐ing these considerations in mind, you can avoid using your flash. Flash pho‐tography usually comes across as amateur, and can distract from the natural feel of the picture. Besides this, it could frighten the animals. It’s better to use natural light when you can!  

                               Watch the Cropping  

One of the most difficult aspects of portrait photography is cropping. There are four major crop points you want to avoid: Elbows (half an arm is missing), knees (half a leg is gone), ankles, and the tip of the subject’s fore‐head. Cropping in this way creates a feeling of tension in the photograph. When you want that reaction from viewers, it’s perfectly fine to do this sort of crop. But in normal pictures, you should avoid cropping at the joints. This also goes for cow’s joints.  

Shannon Soafer

Katharine Hilburn

Alyssa’s Photo Shoot

June 2010, Page 18 of 19

 

There are several good areas to utilize when you crop: At the shoulders (a mug shot), at the waist, or in‐between joints (like the shin or thigh). Cows have a lot of cropping flexibility, be‐cause the only crop you really have to worry about is knee or hoof crop.  

It is not necessary to fit a cow’s entire body into the photograph. Notice the picture to the right. Just the nose of the calf is in the shot, but that allows the full focus to be on the sub‐ject’s face. The crop also enhances the shy, playful feeling of the calf—it looks like he’s sneaking into the picture. When you get down on the calf’s level, they tend to enjoy coming to inspect you. This can make for some very sweet pictures. Just make sure you and your subject are prepared to fall in the mud, if a calf decides to get too playful.  

Because cows like to move, keep an eye on who is moving into your background (and behind you). Be prepared to zoom or move if a cow is doing something unpleasant in the distance—or if it is about to knock you over.  

Be Flexible  

Anyone who works with cows knows: They have a mind of their own. Be prepared to go where they go, rather than expecting them to come to you. A good way to get the cows to behave is to make them happy. Scratching just under their chin catches their attention, and forces them to look at the face of your subject. This is an excellent trick to keeping the cows engaged and attentive.  

Always be safe, and be prepared to get dirty. But most of all: Don’t let the cows eat your camera! Oh, and have fun while you’re at it.  

Ashland Rhodes

June 2010, Page 19 of 19

Alyssa’s Photo Shoot, cont.