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If you had told me eight years ago that I would eventually help run one of the largest Highland cattle events in the country, I probably would have laughed at you. I am not an organized person. I had never planned a cattle show, never run an auction, and really had no business knowing how to do any of it. Honestly, I didn't even know what good cattle looked like yet. I was still learning how to breed good cattle myself.
But in 2018, two friends asked me to help them start a Highland cattle auction, and apparently I thought it sounded like a good idea. Tim Miller, Rosmarie Goad, and I founded the original Southeast Highland Cattle Sale. Tim loaned the organization $500 to get us started, and I brought social media and marketing. That was pretty much all I brought to the table at that point. I didn't even know what good cattle looked like yet. We held our first auction under a little barn in Sparta, North Carolina, and somehow breeders trusted us enough to consign their cattle to a brand new sale run by people who were pretty much figuring it out as we went. Looking back, I am especially thankful for the people who took a chance on us that first year because there wouldn't have been a second one without them.
A couple of years later, COVID pushed us to take a gamble and move the event to the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, Tennessee. Since so many cattle shows had been canceled that year, we decided to add a Highland show too. I would love to say we had some brilliant strategy behind all of this, but we were mostly just figuring out the next thing in front of us.
I definitely had a lot to learn. The first time I was responsible for ordering awards, I didn't even know ribbon colors had standard meanings. I thought you just picked a color, so I chose the one I thought was prettiest and ordered it for the whole show. Thankfully, Kaye Kaufman eventually came along and helped me figure out a lot of the things I didn't know. Through Kaye and Benchmark Graphics, she helped us streamline everything from graphic design and promotional materials to awards, and even announcing the show. She became one of those people I could call when I didn't know the answer, and she usually either knew it or knew who to call.
Some people have given years to this event, some have stepped in for a season, and some have quietly done jobs most attendees will never even know needed doing. I could start naming them, but I know I would leave someone out. There is absolutely no way the Southeast would be what it is today without all of the people who have given their time, knowledge, and energy to helping us build it.
The little auction kept growing. Eventually the show became a Super Point show, the auction started setting records and we began bringing in international judges. We were also able to start putting more back into the people and community around the event. We've supported juniors, scholarships, FFA, charities, and people who needed help, and this year we're giving cash prizes to our junior exhibitors for the first time.
Hurricane Helene was probably when I really understood how far it had grown beyond the people who started it. For weeks after the storm, I barely had cell service. When I could find Wi-Fi, I could answer a few messages, but most of the time I was disconnected and focused on taking care of my farm, figuring out what was happening around me, and helping people in my community. Tim was dealing with the same thing where he lived, and I think we went close to a month without even talking because neither of us had reliable service. We still had a cattle show and auction coming up, but I didn't have the mental capacity to figure out how we were going to pull it off.
With Tim and I both dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane and barely able to communicate, Kaye and Kristin Carmack, who had already been beside me helping with the event for years, basically came to the rescue. They started handling things I didn't even have the capacity to think about, while others stepped into whatever roles needed filling. I honestly probably still don't know everything everyone did behind the scenes. I just know they saw what needed to be done and somehow pulled together an incredible event.
What happened outside of the event meant even more to me. Kesabe Farms, one of our exhibitors, made multiple trips bringing supplies and then stayed to volunteer and work in my community. Les Center, another Highland breeder who I didn't even know at the time, flew supplies into my community by helicopter. Other Highland breeders from all over came together to collect money, clothing, and supplies, and a cattle trailer eventually showed up packed to the brim with donations. I don't even know all the people who contributed or all the families they ended up helping.
I think that was when I really understood what kind of community had grown around the event. I had spent years helping build an event for the Highland community, and when I couldn't run it, organize it, or even reliably communicate with everyone, that community carried the event without me. Then they turned around and came into my community when we needed help and blessed families they had never even met.
After eight years, I think that is what the Southeast means the most to me. Of course I want good cattle, a successful sale, and a great show, but more than anything I want it to be an event where people feel welcome and actually have fun being there. Some of my closest friendships in the Highland community have come from this event, and getting to see those people every year is honestly one of my favorite parts of it. I want new breeders to feel just as welcome as people who have been doing this for decades, juniors to look forward to coming back every year, and breeders who may only see each other a few times a year to have a place to catch up and enjoy each other's company. There are a lot of things I still don't know about running a cattle event, but I am thankful to say I think we have built a pretty good community around it.
This year's Southeast Highland Cattle Show & Sale is coming up October 16 and 17 at the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, Tennessee. If you've never been, come spend the weekend with us. You don't have to be a breeder or already own Highlands to come watch the shows, see some incredible cattle, meet breeders from all over and experience the event for yourself. I think you'll understand pretty quickly why I love it so much.
