Agricultural News
OCA Says Good Bye to Scott Dewald After Seventeen Years of Service as Executive Vice President
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:09:16 CDT
After serving the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association for seventeen years, the Executive Vice President of the organization, Scott Dewald, has announced he is leaving OCA to become the President of REI- the Rural Enterprises Incorporated, based in Durant, Oklahoma.
According to the REI website, "REI Oklahoma announces Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice-President Scott Dewald as its new President and CEO, effective April 1, 2013.
"We are pleased to have Mr. Dewald on board as the new leader of this organization," said Board Chair Karen James. Incoming Board Chair Martin VanMeter said "Scott brings extensive knowledge and experience in working with businesses and stakeholders as a part of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association for the last 17 years. Mr. Dewald fills a critically important role for our organization, and his longstanding statewide relationships made him the ideal candidate for this position. He is a pragmatic, forward-thinking and visionary leader. We are excited to have him at the helm of our organization."
Dewald and his family were honored by the OCA and Oklahoma Agriculture on Thursday evening, March 28th for his many years of serving the OCA, the Oklahoma Cattle Industry, Oklahoma Animal Agriculture and really all of Oklahoma Agriculture.
Presentations were made to Scott by Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese, Oklahoma Pork Council Executive Roy Lee Lindsay, the Reed Center and by Mike Frey, President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association.
The picture above is Scott holding a belt buckle given to him by Rusty Martin, the Chairman of the Range Roundup Committee.
After the presentations- we talked with Scott about his 17 year career with the OCA. He told us he really expected to be with the group for five years, but discovered more than a job- he found a calling and friendships that will last a lifetime. We asked him what were a couple of his memories that would stay with him from his time as the top hired hand of the group. He mentioned December 23, 2003 when the beef cattle industry heard from then Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman about the "Cow that stole Christmas." Scott recalled how the cattle industry in Oklahoma and across the country came together and quickly reassured the public of the safety of US beef- and the livelihoods of cattle producers were saved. (Yours truly- Ron Hays- was a part of that first afternoon- evening- as Scott called together cattle industry leaders and then Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach to the OCA headquarters down at the Stockyards as the media was invited to come by and talk with cattle producers, the Secretary and others to learn the truth about BSE- or Mad Cow's Disease.)
We took a few photos of the evening- click here for our FLICKR set of pictures entitled Scott Dewald Celebration.
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