WEBVTT 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:14.039 Creeping across the pasture land. Got dirt on 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.739 the boots and a working hand. From the milk house 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:24.000 home to the auction call. These are the folks 00:00:24.000 --> 00:01:00.530 standing strong and tall. Yeah, this is... Welcome 00:01:00.530 --> 00:01:03.450 to the Bullvine Podcast. Today we're doing something 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:06.290 a little different. This episode goes behind 00:01:06.290 --> 00:01:11.129 the article, Calves for a Cause, $170 ,000 and 00:01:11.129 --> 00:01:13.730 counting, and lets you hear directly from the 00:01:13.730 --> 00:01:16.810 dairy dad at the center of it all. You're about 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:19.590 to meet Daryl Marcus, a 60 -cow producer from 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:22.849 near Ingersoll, Ontario. Daryl and his wife Sarah 00:01:22.849 --> 00:01:25.569 have seven kids, including Brooks, who was born 00:01:25.569 --> 00:01:28.450 in 2019 with a rare condition that means his 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:31.969 body sometimes forgets to breathe. After 120 00:01:31.969 --> 00:01:35.349 days in the NICU and more hospital stays than 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:38.390 most parents see in a lifetime, Daryl found himself 00:01:38.390 --> 00:01:40.849 sitting in one of those hard plastic chairs, 00:01:41.109 --> 00:01:44.590 watching nurses and child life staff take care 00:01:44.590 --> 00:01:47.590 of kids who weren't his. He asked one question. 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.640 How do I ever repay these people for what they're 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:53.420 doing for our son? Out of that question came 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:56.480 Calves for a Cause, the dairy charity sale at 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.519 Canadian Dairy XPO that has now raised more than 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.760 $170 ,000 for Children's Health Foundation in 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:07.180 London, Ontario, all on the strength of top -end 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:09.479 calves and an industry that shows up when it 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:12.500 matters. In this conversation, you'll hear how 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:15.780 the Marcus family juggled cows, seven kids, and 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.879 months in hospital. why nurses at London Children's 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.259 became second moms, and how one simple idea, 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.060 let's sell a calf and see what happens, grew 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:28.080 into a headline sale in the We Cover Cow Coliseum. 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.960 Whether you run 40 cows or 400, this one is about 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.680 what dairy community really looks like when life 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:37.879 tilts sideways. Let's jump in. Can you give me 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:39.939 your background, how you got started in the farming, 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:42.639 kind of the family, the family operations, and 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:45.240 kind of what things look like today for the Marcus 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:50.159 family? So obviously I started with Markville 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:54.360 Holsteins, yeah, ever since I was born, basically, 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:58.060 out in the barn, up and down the mountain. Did 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:02.740 4 -H, started when I was 10, did that until I 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:07.020 was 21, then started milking cows with my brother 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:10.460 when we were 21 as well, on our rented farm with 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:16.800 40 cages of quota. Bought a farm in Belleville 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:27.360 in 2016. And then had the opportunity to buy 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:32.780 a farm five minutes from home in 2008. No, sorry, 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:35.919 we moved in 2014 to Belleville. Had a chance 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.400 to buy a farm close to the home in 2018. And 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.840 we did that. Moved the quota and the cows from 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:45.319 Belleville to our current location in Ingersoll, 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:52.060 which is now 60 cows milking on 180 acres. Okay. 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:59.120 And you don't do that alone. I know that's a 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.879 lot of work for yourself, but you don't do that 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.159 alone because you have a fairly large family, 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:08.219 if you may. So it could be a little confusing 00:04:08.219 --> 00:04:12.969 for most people. We order things, but yeah, there's 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:17.470 four of us in our family. My brother Gary has 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:19.709 his own farm about a stone's throw away, and 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:23.730 then Mark is now running Markville Holsteins, 00:04:23.730 --> 00:04:26.949 and then my sister is about two minutes away 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:31.410 from him, and she also has her own dairy farm, 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:34.189 so we all kind of help each other where we can, 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:37.769 and we're all, yeah, within the max five -minute 00:04:37.769 --> 00:04:44.689 radius. And just to extend the much even larger 00:04:44.689 --> 00:04:48.209 family, you have how many kids yourself? I currently 00:04:48.209 --> 00:04:54.910 have seven, six boys, one girl. The girl is actually 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:57.430 the last one. I was going to say, and she is 00:04:57.430 --> 00:04:59.829 the baby, if I recall off the top of my head 00:04:59.829 --> 00:05:03.750 pretty well. Was that go until we get a girl, 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:08.509 or was that just by what it worked out? I was 00:05:08.509 --> 00:05:10.509 good until four and got forced into the next 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:16.029 three to get the girl. Okay. That's the way it 00:05:16.029 --> 00:05:19.329 goes. Happy wife, happy life, right? Exactly, 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:24.230 exactly. I was just curious. I got the girl third, 00:05:24.430 --> 00:05:26.709 so I didn't have to go all the way to seven. 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:30.529 So we were pretty good that way. And then you 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:36.300 have... Is he the second youngest? What does 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:40.240 Brooks fit in the... Brooks is our sixth. Sixth, 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.620 that's what I thought. Second youngest, yep. 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.139 Second youngest, that's what I thought. So, as 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:49.060 a family dynamic, what does a day on the farm 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:55.000 look like for all of you guys? So, we don't do 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:06.879 our own crops. And we let... My cousins own a 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:09.420 custom business, so they look after my cropping 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:15.259 and all that side of it. My typical day is looking 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.300 after the everyday duties of a 60 -cow dairy 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:23.220 farm, milking, breeding, all that side of it. 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:27.920 The kids help with milkings to play sports, basically, 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:35.709 and trucking kids around, basically. Even before 00:06:35.709 --> 00:06:38.430 Brooks, you probably had a crazy enough lifestyle 00:06:38.430 --> 00:06:42.990 with the five boys. But when Brooks came, was 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:44.930 it after he was born you guys discovered that 00:06:44.930 --> 00:06:47.310 he was having complications, or did you know 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:49.069 ahead of time a bit, or how did that all? Nope. 00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:54.490 So basically we had no inclination anything was 00:06:54.490 --> 00:07:05.529 wrong. He was born October 28, 2019. He was born 00:07:05.529 --> 00:07:12.829 blue, which, of course, is never good. No. Bluish 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:16.329 gray, I should say. Probably took them a half 00:07:16.329 --> 00:07:18.970 an hour to really get him breathing correctly. 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:23.290 Yeah. And then once he was breathing correctly, 00:07:23.449 --> 00:07:28.269 they actually found a heart murmur. But then 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:30.870 just kind of said, oh, he'll be fine. He'll grow 00:07:30.870 --> 00:07:34.990 out of it. Yeah. And so then. Brooke stayed in 00:07:34.990 --> 00:07:39.730 our room that night, or in Sarah's room, I guess 00:07:39.730 --> 00:07:45.750 it is. Didn't wake up to eat or drink, or I guess 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:50.730 eat. And then in the morning, Sarah tried to 00:07:50.730 --> 00:07:53.730 feed him, and he wanted nothing to do with it, 00:07:53.790 --> 00:07:58.649 and instead decided to throw everything up. Well, 00:07:58.889 --> 00:08:03.699 it was a straight pile, basically. And then that's 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:09.300 when doctors got alerted to something. So they 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:12.259 took him to the Woodstock, like, their NICU, 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:16.600 or not NICU, but their, like, extra care center 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:22.379 station. Yeah. Well, they took a gas tube down. 00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:27.360 They did a couple x -rays, and it showed a blockage 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:30.519 within his belly, or his intestines, I guess. 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:44.830 Yeah. And I'm sure that's a scary time for the 00:08:44.830 --> 00:08:46.990 parents going through all that. A, not knowing 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:50.110 what's going on. Even when you do, I'm trying 00:08:50.110 --> 00:08:53.190 to understand what that means going forward. 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:56.570 How did you and Sarah handle all that, or how 00:08:56.570 --> 00:09:09.389 did that? it was super traumatic as parents you 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:12.509 well especially for sarah right like you have 00:09:12.509 --> 00:09:18.549 a baby uh 12 hours later your your your your 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:23.789 child's emergency transferred to london um and 00:09:23.789 --> 00:09:28.049 and that took us we got there after him and uh 00:09:28.049 --> 00:09:31.870 but like for the mother your typical child's 00:09:31.870 --> 00:09:34.350 born you get to hold them and love them whereas 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.960 Sarah wasn't able to hold Brooks for 10 days. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:44.460 We were only able to look through a bassinet 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:47.480 cupboard, right? Or whatever, I'm not sure what 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:49.779 they called it exactly, but he was inside one 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:52.360 of those bassinet things with a cover on it. 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:59.179 And yeah, you could just sit there and wonder 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:09.049 what's going to happen with your kid. The nurses 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:13.710 at, I'd say any children's hospital, but for 00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:18.830 us, obviously London, they're incredible. Like, 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:26.149 we got lucky. We had a nurse that took him on 00:10:26.149 --> 00:10:29.929 as a, I don't know what they call it, like a, 00:10:30.049 --> 00:10:34.590 I'm trying to think now, a core nurse, basically. 00:10:34.649 --> 00:10:38.960 So whenever she was on working. He was her kid, 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:42.879 right? And we had two of them within the first 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:47.879 three days. He was a little bit different for 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:53.980 them in that the NICU is used to preemies, right? 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:59.940 He was full term, no reason for really being 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:03.379 there other than the obvious, right? So we had 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:19.070 two amazing core nurses almost right away. is 00:11:19.070 --> 00:11:24.370 second to none. It was amazing. And between you, 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:27.190 obviously you have family support at home, but 00:11:27.190 --> 00:11:28.789 there's still cows to be milked, stuff to be 00:11:28.789 --> 00:11:34.269 done at home, and the five other boys, it's probably 00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:36.730 quite still the busy time, but yet trying to 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:38.990 be there as much as you can, and Sarah trying 00:11:38.990 --> 00:11:41.750 to do as much as she can, the support from them 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:46.600 probably helps a lot. Yep. A lot going on. Oh, 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:52.379 yeah. So we were actually fortunate that my cows 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:55.759 in quota were actually at my dad's at the time 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.639 because we were doing a building project at our 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:07.840 home farm. So my cow, and you can see God's providence 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.480 on it, I guess, in that we had just moved from 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.200 Belleville. been in Balboa, we would have to 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:18.980 go to Ottawa with him. And that would have been 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:20.379 hard. And you wouldn't have had the family support 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:25.100 in there. Which is an insane drive. Whereas now, 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.759 we're 20 minutes away from a hospital. Or from 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:35.639 London. And at that time, Mark, my brother, obviously 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:39.179 carried my herd in that I wasn't able to be there 00:12:39.179 --> 00:12:42.580 as much as I needed to be. But I think he understood 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:46.139 that. Dad did. That's what their family would 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:51.360 totally understand. Yeah. And can you just describe, 00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:52.840 because I know you guys went through a lot, but 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:55.000 maybe just share a little bit about what those, 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.679 like the first year or all the things that Brooke 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.480 had to go through kind of early on to get, and 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:03.299 I don't want to call it stable, but to get to 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:05.500 a point where you could even come home regularly 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:09.720 and be home and stuff. So for us, it was the 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:14.879 first four months. We were... He was from day 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.279 one until four months old. I think, I want to 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.379 say February 22nd of 2020, we came home for the 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:25.080 first time, or he came home. That entire time, 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:31.799 he was half in the NICU, half in the PCCU. I'd 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:36.980 say that he had a disease called Hirschsprung's 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:48.220 disease. His colon does not work. So he has no 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:53.580 large intestine because of that. So that surgery 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:57.340 to make for an ostomy happened, I'd say about 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:02.080 two weeks in. And then at the same time, we were 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:09.299 alerted to a disease that could be his actual 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:37.809 diagnosis. That took, oh, I'd say six, close 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:44.309 to six weeks, I'd say that. I'd say six weeks 00:14:44.309 --> 00:14:48.429 to get those results back because it included 00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:50.990 Sarah and I being tested for the same disease. 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:56.629 Okay. So it was his came back and then we had 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:00.850 to send ours back because if Sarah and I tested 00:15:00.850 --> 00:15:03.570 the same as him, then he wouldn't have had the 00:15:03.570 --> 00:15:06.190 disease. Yeah. But, of course, we don't have 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:10.370 it. Yeah. That disease was congenital central 00:15:10.370 --> 00:15:15.039 hypoventilation syndrome. Mm -hmm. Also CCHS. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:20.600 So that's his prime diagnosis. And Hirschsprung's 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:25.899 is a side effect of that diagnosis. Our first 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:34.519 year or so was a mess. Not a lot of issues with 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:39.419 the breathing, but a lot of issues around his 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:44.490 ostomy. His outputs were way too high. He just 00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:51.129 wasn't thriving. And, like, I think we in the 00:15:51.129 --> 00:15:54.750 first year, I think we maybe had two new Austinies 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:58.070 put in as well, if I remember correctly. It just 00:15:58.070 --> 00:16:02.389 wasn't working. And, yeah, he just wasn't thriving. 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:06.870 So it was a lot of time on TPN and in hospital. 00:16:06.929 --> 00:16:08.610 I think we were, for the first year, we were 00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:12.450 probably in, oh. Probably half of the year by 00:16:12.450 --> 00:16:17.309 the time everything was set. And then it was 00:16:17.309 --> 00:16:20.210 almost the same for the second year. We were 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:23.450 just having trouble getting him to thrive, I 00:16:23.450 --> 00:16:27.269 guess, is the right answer. And as a parent, 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:28.769 that's the hardest thing in the world because 00:16:28.769 --> 00:16:32.450 you try to do anything you can, but some of this, 00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:34.309 especially in this scenario, was so out of your 00:16:34.309 --> 00:16:41.409 control. Yeah, yeah. I think everybody was. Concerned 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:43.950 is the right word, I guess. Like, everybody's 00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:46.250 trying to figure it out, right? Like, he's got 00:16:46.250 --> 00:16:50.950 a whole team of specialists, right? Everybody's 00:16:50.950 --> 00:16:55.250 trying to figure out what's going on. And you're 00:16:55.250 --> 00:16:57.370 trying to figure out, hey, if he eats this, what 00:16:57.370 --> 00:16:59.570 happens? If he eats that, what happens, right? 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:03.230 And you know all the things you're supposed to 00:17:03.230 --> 00:17:05.670 stay away from with the Hirschsprung's disease, 00:17:05.869 --> 00:17:08.730 but then he was reacting to things that he should 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:11.879 have been okay with, and it just wasn't. Yeah, 00:17:11.879 --> 00:17:14.119 again, at two years old, I think he weighed, 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:19.299 like, boy, he wasn't, if he was 20 pounds, it 00:17:19.299 --> 00:17:22.099 would be a lot, I think. Yeah, especially with 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:25.059 his four, sorry, five older brothers who, I know 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:28.140 your family well, were bigger boys, so he'd seem 00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:30.579 quite small compared to his brothers. Yeah, oh, 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:34.099 yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There was times we took 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:37.000 him in and it was, yeah, he was just, yeah, he 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:42.009 just wasn't private. It was terrible. But it 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:45.910 sounds, or at least from my following, that as 00:17:45.910 --> 00:17:47.849 he's gotten older here and you guys have gotten 00:17:47.849 --> 00:17:50.569 a better understanding, he's started to do better. 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:55.470 So, yeah, like, the thing we've learned along 00:17:55.470 --> 00:18:01.589 the way is not every ostomy is perfect. And doctors 00:18:01.589 --> 00:18:04.470 sometimes, like you said, they do their best, 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:08.670 right, to make a good one. And essentially... 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:17.980 a good one, and you hope that one works for the 00:18:17.980 --> 00:18:24.579 long term. And so, yeah, I'd say probably around 00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:29.140 the end of his two years, once he was about two 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:33.140 years old, we finally, after, I'd say, four or 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:36.240 five different tries, we finally got a good one. 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:43.759 And then he sailed for, I'd say, Six seven months 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:47.759 he was really good mm -hmm and then we decided 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:52.099 to do Well, it's called a reverse I guess reversal 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:56.839 yeah Surgery which basically brought his small 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:01.319 intestine down to his bum Mm -hmm To eliminate 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:05.559 the ostomy and that did not work Okay Whatever 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:13.339 the reasons are age Possibly how severe his Hirschsprung 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:16.380 actually is. Right? Like it's something we don't 00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:18.980 really know. Like still probably don't know how 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:27.099 severe it is. But yeah, it did not work. And 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:32.339 then we spent, oh shoot, I'd say probably nine 00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:35.420 months trying to make it work for him. And it 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:40.680 was like, yeah, it was terrible for him. Terrible 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:45.710 for us. up most nights screaming that he was 00:19:45.710 --> 00:19:49.230 in pain and it didn't work at all and then um 00:19:49.230 --> 00:20:00.910 finally he uh got really sick uh june of 23 i 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:07.430 want to say and uh he forced us to uh go back 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:21.549 to yeah or the Canadian one at least, which is 00:20:21.549 --> 00:20:25.289 in Toronto. So London made it happen that he 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:30.170 could go to Toronto. And we spent about a week 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:35.829 on sick kids. And that doctor decided to obviously 00:20:35.829 --> 00:20:40.150 go back to the ostomy. And ever since then, Brooks 00:20:40.150 --> 00:20:45.970 has thrived. Okay. He's been unbelievable. That's 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:51.279 good news. Yeah, yeah. Now, one of the things 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.779 I've had the privilege of knowing your family 00:20:53.779 --> 00:20:56.660 since almost when you were like Brooks' type 00:20:56.660 --> 00:21:02.680 age, that faith and community are huge for you 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.859 guys. Yes. Your parents, obviously, very much 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:09.579 so, and yourselves. Yep. And so you decided to 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:12.940 give back to everyone who's helped and supported 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:15.420 you guys. How did that start? Where did all the 00:21:15.420 --> 00:21:19.390 genesis of the... Cavs for a cause even begin? 00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:27.970 In a chair in the NICU. Okay. I'd say probably 00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:33.829 four to five weeks in, you just realize what 00:21:33.829 --> 00:21:37.910 they're doing, right? Like how amazing the nurses 00:21:37.910 --> 00:21:42.650 are. There's side programs going on for kids. 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:53.130 Not so much him at the time. specialty as far 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:56.650 as the uh child life like that stuff you can 00:21:56.650 --> 00:22:01.670 kind of see going on um and and yeah like you 00:22:01.670 --> 00:22:04.470 just sit there and and you see all this going 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:07.250 on and all i could think about is how on earth 00:22:07.250 --> 00:22:13.309 do i ever repay these people um for what they're 00:22:13.309 --> 00:22:18.109 doing for our kid or for our son i guess um and 00:22:18.109 --> 00:22:27.359 i just for me it was fairly side of the box and 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.140 that i just i i know the industry i know enough 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:35.480 people in the industry um and i i'd never run 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:41.279 a sale before but i thought oh you like i i my 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:43.440 original thought was hey i'll just throw a cap 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:47.880 on facebook and just let people bid on her right 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.339 and what if you get 600 bucks you get 600 bucks 00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:57.119 yeah um but yeah and then i'd So then, yeah, 00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:00.200 we got out and COVID hit. As I say, it was right 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.059 during COVID times. Yeah. Two weeks after we 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:08.759 got out, we were shut down. So that added the 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:14.000 online elements to the first year. Yeah. But, 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:18.640 like, I just, to be honest, like, I literally 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:23.099 reached out to, well, almost like it was everybody, 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.079 really. Like, Brooks had a large following. which 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:29.839 we noticed fairly quickly. And we were getting 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:32.599 a lot of messages of support and stuff, right? 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:36.420 So, yeah, I just started reaching out to people 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:38.460 I knew, asked them what their thoughts were of 00:23:38.460 --> 00:23:41.859 putting a calf in the sale. I wasn't expecting 00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:47.240 donations, per se, but everybody kept saying 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:50.819 yes. Like I said, originally I just thought, 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:57.220 hey, I'd... To be honest, my original message 00:23:57.220 --> 00:24:01.220 was actually to Ethan McMillan, who when I was 00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:04.160 in Fellville I had some pretty good connections 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.140 with. And I just emailed him. I said, hey, if 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:10.980 I do this on a Facebook page, are you interested 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:13.940 in putting a cap in? And he said, oh, absolutely. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.319 We'll do that for sure. We'll do that for sure. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:25.339 And then I just kept asking. I made my first 00:24:25.339 --> 00:24:33.299 post, and then Julie Ashton contacted me fairly 00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:37.299 quickly, like within probably an hour, hour and 00:24:37.299 --> 00:24:42.140 a half, and she wanted to be involved. And then 00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:46.539 probably fairly quickly after that, Nick Saubacher 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:50.279 messaged me, and he wanted to be involved, and 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:55.490 he donated his paddle club spot for me. for the 00:24:55.490 --> 00:24:59.630 online part of it. And then, yeah, then it grew 00:24:59.630 --> 00:25:02.009 from there. Like, I think the first year we had, 00:25:02.109 --> 00:25:07.369 I want to say we had 25, 20, 25 donated lots. 00:25:08.470 --> 00:25:11.069 Well, I think a lot of that also comes from the 00:25:11.069 --> 00:25:13.390 fact that your family, yourselves, plus your 00:25:13.390 --> 00:25:16.069 extended family, had been so involved in the 00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:18.769 community that everyone wanted to help back. 00:25:18.950 --> 00:25:22.190 And then, obviously, you amplify that with the 00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:26.119 power of, Facebook, digital media, whatever you 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:31.819 want to call it. And I think it just grew. It 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:36.339 grew rapidly. It grew way quicker than I ever 00:25:36.339 --> 00:25:40.319 thought of it. It would. And I should, like, 00:25:40.859 --> 00:25:45.359 the credit goes to Dad on how our family dynamic 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.380 is. Like, yeah, we're involved. And, yeah, I 00:25:51.380 --> 00:26:00.390 go from show to show, too. Whereas I'm more just 00:26:00.390 --> 00:26:03.210 the show side. Like, I don't show a ton, but, 00:26:03.269 --> 00:26:06.269 like, I get around the show world a little bit. 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:13.230 But, yeah, my dad really planned that. I can 00:26:13.230 --> 00:26:16.670 say as someone who interacted with your dad. 00:26:17.529 --> 00:26:20.809 I would say your Clarence Marcus is, everybody 00:26:20.809 --> 00:26:23.269 knows who you are. Yeah, I was going to say, 00:26:23.269 --> 00:26:25.880 as someone who. I had the opportunity. You guys 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:27.519 were just a little little when I first saw you, 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:31.920 but your dad would take the time to, or does, 00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:34.099 probably still does, take the time to sit and 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:37.799 chat with people, anyone about things. And how 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:40.359 do I say it? I was a bit of a crazy teenager 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:43.799 at times, and your dad still would come and sometimes 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:46.039 settle me down, sometimes just have a cool talk, 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:50.259 just depended what he felt was needed at the 00:26:50.259 --> 00:26:55.589 time. Yeah, I know that's him. So, as I said, 00:26:55.589 --> 00:26:59.710 his care and, you know, I'll word it this way. 00:26:59.750 --> 00:27:01.430 At some points, I didn't understand your dad 00:27:01.430 --> 00:27:03.769 because I was a 16 - or 17 -year -old, and he 00:27:03.769 --> 00:27:05.750 would bring faith into it a bit, and I didn't 00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:08.730 come from strong that way. But as I got to know 00:27:08.730 --> 00:27:12.410 your dad, then I obviously understood all that. 00:27:13.269 --> 00:27:17.849 Oh, yeah. That was a key part with him was faith 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:22.759 and behavior. I'll word it that way. Yeah, no, 00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:26.740 absolutely. That's how we grew up. So you guys 00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:30.900 all have grown up with that. I wouldn't say I'm 00:27:30.900 --> 00:27:34.279 an unknown person in the industry, but, like, 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:36.859 I'm not. Like, I wrote his coattails on that 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:39.059 one. Or he opened doors or whatever you want 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:42.420 to call it. But, yes, yeah, yeah, no. I think 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:45.640 lots of people know who I am, but it's not. I 00:27:45.640 --> 00:27:48.299 think it's still directed to him. Yeah, no, no. 00:27:49.450 --> 00:27:53.849 Yeah, like I say, the first sale, that was all 00:27:53.849 --> 00:27:57.349 me just messaging people that I knew through 00:27:57.349 --> 00:28:04.009 shows on Facebook. And I just kept getting yeses. 00:28:04.950 --> 00:28:08.190 And it went extremely well, extremely well. Yes, 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:12.869 yeah, yeah. The first year we made, what was 00:28:12.869 --> 00:28:17.089 it, 71 ,000? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's got to stay 00:28:17.089 --> 00:28:20.130 in my notes, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, 71 the first 00:28:20.130 --> 00:28:23.309 year. And then the second year, I believe, is 00:28:23.309 --> 00:28:25.650 when you guys started moving or kind of working 00:28:25.650 --> 00:28:31.490 with Dairy Expo? No, no. The second year, I actually 00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:40.529 ran it out of the start. Obviously, COVID made 00:28:40.529 --> 00:28:43.650 it so we couldn't. My dream was always to have 00:28:43.650 --> 00:28:47.259 a live sale because I always noticed. Like, I 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:51.240 loved going to Tavistock. Yeah. Like, the sale 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:54.420 barn. And I always noticed the sales were kind 00:28:54.420 --> 00:28:57.460 of not – like, you don't have quite as many live 00:28:57.460 --> 00:29:00.819 sales anymore. Yeah. And I always loved going. 00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:06.759 So, I always wanted to make it a live. And so, 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:09.579 the second year, we made it a live auction. Okay. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:16.069 I had basically – I actually – I hummed and hawed 00:29:16.069 --> 00:29:21.089 whether to do it the second year. It's a lot 00:29:21.089 --> 00:29:27.710 of work. It's a lot of brain power. You don't 00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:30.589 want to disappoint people. I was pretty tired 00:29:30.589 --> 00:29:34.049 after the first one, even though it was online. 00:29:36.230 --> 00:29:40.950 But then I didn't do much. And then in December 00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:46.779 of that year, I had people start contacting me 00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:50.700 that they wanted me to run it. Yep, yep. So I 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:55.319 probably had 15, 25 lots just of people that 00:29:55.319 --> 00:29:58.119 were calling me to say, hey, we want you to run 00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:01.660 it. We have a cap for you again. Okay. Right? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:05.500 And so that's where that came from. And I was 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:06.940 like, you know what, let's just make it a live 00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:11.980 one. But we still had the sale online. Okay. 00:30:13.289 --> 00:30:17.869 I added the live viewing part of it. Yeah. And 00:30:17.869 --> 00:30:21.869 then the next year we moved to CDX. Okay. So 00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:27.990 23. 23 was for Jordan and Underhill. Yeah. Yeah. 00:30:28.289 --> 00:30:32.970 Yeah. Yeah. And that's grown quite well. It's 00:30:32.970 --> 00:30:37.150 become a key part to the events there. So that's 00:30:37.150 --> 00:30:43.039 been a great partnership. I think it's... I'm 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:47.279 proud to have started it. I think it's a very 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:57.960 good image for the industry. I think, again, 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:02.539 because we do stuff with the foundation as far 00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:05.920 as pictures and stuff, which I don't necessarily 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:08.160 need, but again, I think it's good for the industry 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:11.420 to be out there. hey the dairy industry is giving 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:14.299 back to the hospital like right like i always 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:19.259 think that's good um so but yeah it's really 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:23.299 taken off especially internationally since we 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:27.779 got to uh cdx yeah yeah it kind of brings that 00:31:27.779 --> 00:31:30.880 even more exposure or partners up for even more 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:34.380 exposure like i get messages from all over like 00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:40.519 all over the world interested in buying just 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:42.559 because of logistics but just like hey that's 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.980 amazing what you guys are doing yeah well I think 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:51.599 it is and I think people recognize that and I 00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:54.640 know that yes you've there's a lot more help 00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:57.680 in it now than maybe your first years which is 00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.880 great because I know that Jeffrey has become 00:31:59.880 --> 00:32:04.200 on Jeffrey Not the start, but Jeffrey's been 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:06.759 around for... Jeff has been around since we moved 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:08.839 to CDX. That's what I mean. Jeffrey's been around. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:14.359 Yeah, because I... So for the first two years, 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:20.759 I didn't have expectations for cap quality. And 00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:24.160 I would just sell what people were kind of just 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:29.420 giving, right? Yeah. Whereas now with CDX, I 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:33.940 wanted... My goal was to make it the Sail of 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:37.420 the Stars. Yeah. Right? Like, I want it to be 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:40.079 that. Like, because going to the Royalist, kid, 00:32:40.140 --> 00:32:42.740 that was, like, that was the cool thing to go 00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:46.859 see, right? And that was kind of my thought. 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:51.039 I want to provide another, like, high -end series 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:56.779 show. More or less. I want, like, high -end show 00:32:56.779 --> 00:33:00.940 cabs. We have some with numbers, but they also 00:33:00.940 --> 00:33:05.099 have to look good. That's kind of where I'm at, 00:33:05.299 --> 00:33:08.799 and that's where Jeff comes in. I don't have 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:14.460 time to go around the countryside and have looks 00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:17.779 at these cows, or heifers, I should say. And 00:33:17.779 --> 00:33:21.079 bringing Jeff on has been one of the best decisions 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:24.059 we've ever made. Yeah, and Jeffrey obviously 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:27.940 does. He gets around a lot and has a lot of connections, 00:33:28.059 --> 00:33:31.359 as you know. And a lot of, yeah, a ton of connections. 00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.440 So he's able to draw and help and, yeah, help 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:36.940 elevate the quality, but also, you know, he's 00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:39.119 a high -quality judge in his own right, so he 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:41.180 knows when it's a good one and a bad one and 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:43.779 what they are. He's able to help you that way 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:46.900 and has the time to do it. And on my end, it's 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:50.660 important for me to have people that understand 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:56.970 the cause. It's not – we've had a little bit 00:33:56.970 --> 00:34:01.230 of – I should – this is not – like, it's important 00:34:01.230 --> 00:34:04.269 for me to have people that – what's the right 00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:09.250 word? Understand it's a charity sale. Yeah. And 00:34:09.250 --> 00:34:14.730 are willing to – and Jeff has kids, right? So 00:34:14.730 --> 00:34:18.809 that really brings it all home, too. Yeah. But, 00:34:18.989 --> 00:34:21.309 yeah, that part of it's important to me. And 00:34:21.309 --> 00:34:23.809 I think that's a key differentiator. to be honest 00:34:23.809 --> 00:34:26.389 about this sale. You talk about, there's not 00:34:26.389 --> 00:34:29.070 a lot of live sales and stuff go on as much anymore, 00:34:29.130 --> 00:34:32.630 but I think when you, because of the charity 00:34:32.630 --> 00:34:37.329 slash emotional component to all of this, it's 00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:40.929 more than just a sale. It's an event. It really 00:34:40.929 --> 00:34:43.170 is an event. And that's why it fits well. I think 00:34:43.170 --> 00:34:46.309 with the X, because it is an event. There is 00:34:46.309 --> 00:34:48.289 the two parts. Like it's not just, Hey, we're 00:34:48.289 --> 00:34:50.050 selling high quality cattle, which is great. 00:34:50.699 --> 00:34:53.760 but it is an event in it outright as well, so 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:57.039 that makes it extra special. And that is our 00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:01.699 goal with it, right? And I want the special to 00:35:01.699 --> 00:35:06.440 stay part of the sale. That's the driver of it 00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:10.199 for me. Yeah, and I know from talking to people 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:13.380 who have donated calves or portions of calves 00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:15.800 or whatever over the years, that's obviously 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:19.000 the key component. For them as well. You talk 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:23.519 about Kingsway, and we all know that faith is 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:28.239 also a key element for them, and not surprising 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.019 that they jumped on board instantly for many 00:35:31.019 --> 00:35:33.699 reasons, but that would be one as well, is they're 00:35:33.699 --> 00:35:37.019 wanting to help and donate, and for a cause, 00:35:37.159 --> 00:35:42.440 they would step up as quick as anyone. On the 00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:49.980 faith side of it for us, I'm not a huge faith 00:35:49.980 --> 00:35:58.739 talker, but I typically will show my faith through 00:35:58.739 --> 00:36:04.739 how I behave. And for us, that's obviously part 00:36:04.739 --> 00:36:09.000 of this for us. It allows us to show that side 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:13.039 of us as well through the sale where I can. Obviously, 00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:22.550 that's just how I am. No, no, everyone shows 00:36:22.550 --> 00:36:24.969 differently. And I would say some people talk 00:36:24.969 --> 00:36:27.750 a lot more. Some people just through actions 00:36:27.750 --> 00:36:30.730 and obviously that, but this is a huge action 00:36:30.730 --> 00:36:34.130 that you guys do to kind of share and do that. 00:36:34.230 --> 00:36:38.010 Has there been, go ahead. Sorry. Well, and for 00:36:38.010 --> 00:36:40.230 us too, right? Like, cause we see it at the hospital 00:36:40.230 --> 00:36:45.030 too. Like, um, the way we deal with Brooks and 00:36:45.030 --> 00:36:51.440 the situation, people notice. Right? Like, they 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:54.639 know, hey, these people are, they have something 00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:58.039 different going on, right? And for us, like, 00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:01.980 that's a big part for us. Like, understanding 00:37:01.980 --> 00:37:07.599 part of our, like, yeah, part of the journey 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:10.900 of Brooks is how we deal with it and showing 00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:14.079 our faith through that as well. For sure. For 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:16.460 sure. Have there been any, like, surprising, 00:37:16.500 --> 00:37:18.909 would it, like, or most memorable moments? Two 00:37:18.909 --> 00:37:21.090 of the sales so far that would stand out to you? 00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:24.909 You're going to make me cry? I know. It's got 00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:31.710 to be Brooks leading a calf in 2024. He had just 00:37:31.710 --> 00:37:34.269 gotten out of the hospital that day. It was, 00:37:34.309 --> 00:37:39.750 yeah, he wanted to do it all. He wouldn't stop 00:37:39.750 --> 00:37:42.610 talking about it leading up to him, and then 00:37:42.610 --> 00:37:44.170 all of a sudden he ended up at the hospital. 00:37:47.980 --> 00:37:51.739 Yeah, I think it was the day of. And, yeah, having 00:37:51.739 --> 00:37:54.079 him lead that calf for the first time, that's 00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:59.079 by far the most special moment for us. And you 00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:03.659 see the look on his face that day. Oh, he was 00:38:03.659 --> 00:38:08.980 loving it. He was grinning ear to ear, and it 00:38:08.980 --> 00:38:10.480 didn't look like we were going to get him out 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:13.219 of there too easily. No, no, I think he ended 00:38:13.219 --> 00:38:15.280 up leading three that day. I think he did a few, 00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:19.739 yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He likes leading calves, 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:22.800 so he leads them around the farm too sometimes. 00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:28.019 But yeah, that's by far the number of most special 00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:33.900 moments I have. The second would be the first 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:54.090 year we actually had... Russell, Nick, and Julie. 00:38:55.590 --> 00:39:00.349 And the excitement in that call as the sale closed 00:39:00.349 --> 00:39:05.789 was amazing as well. But yeah, Brooks, that was, 00:39:05.989 --> 00:39:13.510 that's by far my favorite memory. And, you know, 00:39:13.590 --> 00:39:16.489 there's part of earning the money and then obviously 00:39:16.489 --> 00:39:19.679 being able to share that back with the hospital? 00:39:19.820 --> 00:39:21.599 Has there been good feedback from that side? 00:39:21.699 --> 00:39:26.880 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No. That's, yeah, like, again, 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:30.360 some of their executives actually show up at 00:39:30.360 --> 00:39:34.639 the sale. Okay. So, like, most years there's 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:38.239 one or two board members there. And then every 00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:43.219 year so far one of their top executives is also 00:39:43.219 --> 00:39:46.280 there. She's just the person I go through. I 00:39:46.280 --> 00:39:51.730 talked to her earlier. Yeah. But, yeah, like 00:39:51.730 --> 00:39:59.989 the first or second year, so he's the, I don't 00:39:59.989 --> 00:40:03.110 know what the right, like in the PCCU, he's like 00:40:03.110 --> 00:40:09.190 the genius king. Because it's a bit of a different 00:40:09.190 --> 00:40:12.550 dynamic, right? The PCCU for most people is a 00:40:12.550 --> 00:40:18.210 dreaded situation. Yeah. Like, yeah, we don't 00:40:18.210 --> 00:40:21.650 want to do this. But, like, the PCCU is for mostly, 00:40:21.750 --> 00:40:26.469 like, trauma patients, right? But you guys probably 00:40:26.469 --> 00:40:28.750 have also found support from it, though. Yeah. 00:40:29.190 --> 00:40:35.050 Like, the average, most PCCU patients are brought 00:40:35.050 --> 00:40:38.510 in after, say, a car accident, right? And they 00:40:38.510 --> 00:40:41.570 spend two, three days there, and then they get 00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:45.630 moved to another floor. Yeah. Whereas for us, 00:40:45.670 --> 00:40:47.409 because of Brooks and... breathing situation 00:40:47.409 --> 00:40:51.010 he has to stay in that in the critical care unit 00:40:51.010 --> 00:40:55.289 but when he's healthy they play with them they 00:40:55.289 --> 00:40:58.150 do it like he's the king yeah when he's healthy 00:40:58.150 --> 00:41:00.650 right and he sits at their desks and he helps 00:41:00.650 --> 00:41:17.809 do paperwork so the first year they had a That 00:41:17.809 --> 00:41:21.690 was pretty cool, too. No, honestly, they've almost 00:41:21.690 --> 00:41:23.929 become like family probably for you guys, too, 00:41:24.050 --> 00:41:29.409 over the time. We actually don't hang out with 00:41:29.409 --> 00:41:34.409 nurses, but we do a couple suffers with a couple 00:41:34.409 --> 00:41:38.610 of them. One we try to do around his birthday 00:41:38.610 --> 00:41:44.190 with his NICU nurses. And then Brooks likes to 00:41:44.190 --> 00:41:47.829 go hang out with his... and see what nurse he 00:41:47.829 --> 00:41:50.309 is on his birthday and stuff. Yeah, for sure. 00:41:50.389 --> 00:41:53.070 And we try to go there with treats fairly regularly. 00:41:54.809 --> 00:41:59.090 Just to, yeah, like, again, we owe them a lot. 00:41:59.289 --> 00:42:05.469 Like, they were incredible to us. Yeah, again, 00:42:05.650 --> 00:42:09.130 it's just a feel of a need to give back. Yeah. 00:42:10.369 --> 00:42:14.409 And I find it interesting because I do have known 00:42:14.409 --> 00:42:18.590 you for a while. And I wouldn't say you were 00:42:18.590 --> 00:42:20.769 the most talkative always. I'll word it that 00:42:20.769 --> 00:42:25.010 way. So now this probably has forced you to be 00:42:25.010 --> 00:42:29.570 more sharing of emotion than I would have ever 00:42:29.570 --> 00:42:33.150 said for you beforehand. You know what I mean? 00:42:33.889 --> 00:42:39.769 I'm not a big talker. No. I always laugh because 00:42:39.769 --> 00:42:45.030 Gary and I used to always go to the judging schools. 00:42:45.329 --> 00:42:51.119 Yep. And I smoke them on my placings, but I won't 00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:54.820 give reasons. Because I just don't like the mic. 00:42:55.980 --> 00:42:58.800 Whereas this has obviously had to make me, I've 00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:01.820 grown that way. I don't know that I'm prepared 00:43:01.820 --> 00:43:04.940 to give reasons off a mic yet, but I've had to 00:43:04.940 --> 00:43:08.179 go out of my comfort zone, talk to people about, 00:43:08.300 --> 00:43:12.360 yeah, logistics of the sale, that type of side 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:16.090 of it. I've had to do some speaking events for 00:43:16.090 --> 00:43:21.630 the hospital. But, hey, it's good for people 00:43:21.630 --> 00:43:23.030 to get out of their comfort zone. No, no, I know. 00:43:23.110 --> 00:43:25.190 That's all I'm commenting on because I've known 00:43:25.190 --> 00:43:27.110 you since you were little. That's all why I say 00:43:27.110 --> 00:43:30.789 this. You're probably the most talkative I've 00:43:30.789 --> 00:43:33.230 ever heard you be, other than if we were debating 00:43:33.230 --> 00:43:37.179 about what cow is better than another cow. One 00:43:37.179 --> 00:43:39.139 -on -one, then I would know. Yeah, you would 00:43:39.139 --> 00:43:41.219 talk a lot. At that point, I would probably not 00:43:41.219 --> 00:43:43.639 be able to get you set up, but yes. I can do 00:43:43.639 --> 00:43:47.980 cows one -on -one all day long. I would love 00:43:47.980 --> 00:43:50.320 to. I always tell Sarah I need to take nerve 00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:52.579 pills and then go to a judging school. Yeah, 00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:54.380 that's what I was going to say. I always knew 00:43:54.380 --> 00:43:56.099 that if we just talked one -on -one standing 00:43:56.099 --> 00:44:00.139 in the barn, you wouldn't hold back your opinion 00:44:00.139 --> 00:44:04.570 and you would share a lot. In a more larger group 00:44:04.570 --> 00:44:07.429 setting, yeah, that was normally a trickier situation. 00:44:08.289 --> 00:44:11.150 Yep. No, I'm definitely more reserved. Gary's 00:44:11.150 --> 00:44:16.170 the talker. Gary is more, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. 00:44:16.349 --> 00:44:19.449 I find that, like, twins, obviously, because 00:44:19.449 --> 00:44:23.550 you'll find two very distinct, maybe not appearances, 00:44:23.630 --> 00:44:26.449 although you guys aren't identical, but personalities 00:44:26.449 --> 00:44:30.309 you'll find very much difference. Yep, yes, yep, 00:44:30.750 --> 00:44:33.619 yep. And yet, it's funny, we like the same things. 00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:37.059 Yep. But yet, we're still very different in how 00:44:37.059 --> 00:44:40.320 we, yeah, just still very different personality 00:44:40.320 --> 00:44:42.800 -wise. Yep, yep. And we're talking, but yep, 00:44:42.900 --> 00:44:47.860 yep, for sure. So, with the sale, what is the 00:44:47.860 --> 00:44:49.900 goals? What do you, like, it's obviously grown 00:44:49.900 --> 00:44:53.539 a lot, and it's become a key event. What are 00:44:53.539 --> 00:44:56.000 you hoping for it for the future, or what it 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:59.159 grows into or develops, or what do you see for 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:09.900 it? probably... Again, my goal is still to have 00:45:09.900 --> 00:45:13.320 it be the Sailor Stars. I don't think we're quite 00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:19.599 there yet. I want guys to be willing to give 00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:25.159 their best. For us, we have 40 stalls. Right 00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:29.059 now, we have upwards of 70 calves that want in. 00:45:30.219 --> 00:45:49.719 That allows be a go -to for for i guess for international 00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:55.400 purpose like the go -to if i can help cdx with 00:45:55.400 --> 00:45:58.420 visibility and they can help me with visibility 00:45:58.420 --> 00:46:04.079 and i can get more visibility for children that's 00:46:04.079 --> 00:46:19.690 my end goal doing something to give back. They're 00:46:19.690 --> 00:46:22.289 all part of it. They all get days off school 00:46:22.289 --> 00:46:32.469 around the sale just to help out. I think long 00:46:32.469 --> 00:46:35.110 -term with CDX, they're in for it. I'm in for 00:46:35.110 --> 00:46:38.170 the long -term. My end goal is probably a million 00:46:38.170 --> 00:46:48.679 bucks. Obviously, that's a lofty goal. in my 00:46:48.679 --> 00:46:55.800 head. The last thing I'd long to run under than 00:46:55.800 --> 00:47:01.199 people want, if that makes sense. I think as 00:47:01.199 --> 00:47:07.579 long as there's interest in it, I'm all in. Again, 00:47:07.820 --> 00:47:10.519 you don't want it to get old, right? And then 00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:15.179 be left saying, oh, gee, we only had a $2 ,500 00:47:15.179 --> 00:47:20.320 average, right? Yep. I want to be able to read 00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:23.539 the room that way, but obviously right now there's 00:47:23.539 --> 00:47:26.840 still a ton of interest in it. Well, I was going 00:47:26.840 --> 00:47:28.800 to say the neat part of what you guys have done 00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:32.679 is instead of, how do I word this, just leveraging 00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:37.139 it as the charity part, you really have worked 00:47:37.139 --> 00:47:40.960 hard at growing it into a sale, and I think that's 00:47:40.960 --> 00:47:43.579 the evident part. As you said, that was part 00:47:43.579 --> 00:47:46.440 of your evolution. I do know you look through 00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:50.840 the lots now, and you really do. I will say you 00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:54.619 get the best of the best from Ontario. It's growing. 00:47:54.980 --> 00:47:59.099 But as you say, your goal is to grow it from 00:47:59.099 --> 00:48:02.440 there. And that's still growing. But I think 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:04.900 everyone's catching on that, hey, it is more 00:48:04.900 --> 00:48:07.639 than just the message of supporting the people 00:48:07.639 --> 00:48:10.440 who supported Brooks, that it is becoming more 00:48:10.440 --> 00:48:12.400 than just that. And I think that's testament 00:48:12.400 --> 00:48:15.179 to what your goals are. So I commend you for 00:48:15.179 --> 00:48:18.079 that. But, you know, the other part hasn't been 00:48:18.079 --> 00:48:20.940 lost. It's still there. It's just batting on. 00:48:21.420 --> 00:48:25.019 Yeah, like, my goal is to keep the family part, 00:48:25.119 --> 00:48:29.260 the giving back part, while pushing the high 00:48:29.260 --> 00:48:32.679 -end calves, like, from all over North America. 00:48:33.340 --> 00:48:35.380 And the neat part about that is having known 00:48:35.380 --> 00:48:37.719 your family. That is so you guys. It's almost 00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:40.369 the two things that I would. say to your family 00:48:40.369 --> 00:48:42.650 is the passion for Holsteins, or passion for 00:48:42.650 --> 00:48:44.190 cows, but I'll call it Holsteins. I don't know 00:48:44.190 --> 00:48:46.150 if I've seen too many jerseys. Well, a little 00:48:46.150 --> 00:48:49.510 bit. But in general, I'll word it as passion 00:48:49.510 --> 00:48:52.409 for cows and faith in giving back. So this is 00:48:52.409 --> 00:48:55.349 almost what I call the Marcus family trademark 00:48:55.349 --> 00:48:59.110 right there, through and through, because I'm 00:48:59.110 --> 00:49:00.510 like, it's everything I've always associated 00:49:00.510 --> 00:49:04.670 with your family. Yep. And Gary and Dad are heavily 00:49:04.670 --> 00:49:13.119 involved with it. They are involved. I will rebound 00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:18.139 a lot of my ideas on Gary. The dad obviously 00:49:18.139 --> 00:49:21.179 is a ring man, and he loves that part of it. 00:49:21.719 --> 00:49:24.840 But, yeah, that's huge for me, right, like the 00:49:24.840 --> 00:49:27.980 family. I don't think you'd keep your dad out 00:49:27.980 --> 00:49:33.780 of it if you tried. Who he is, everything that's 00:49:33.780 --> 00:49:35.559 involved, he's like, I'm involved one way or 00:49:35.559 --> 00:49:37.789 another, even if you just make me a. Bump on 00:49:37.789 --> 00:49:40.269 the line if he's going to be involved. I will 00:49:40.269 --> 00:49:43.510 say I think both of them thought I was nuts originally. 00:49:44.150 --> 00:49:46.570 Yeah, probably. But that probably isn't the first 00:49:46.570 --> 00:49:48.010 time they've thought you're nuts either, though. 00:49:48.050 --> 00:49:51.409 Yeah, probably not, no. Just saying. But I remember 00:49:51.409 --> 00:49:54.730 having the conversation with Gary and Dan before 00:49:54.730 --> 00:49:57.349 the first year, and both of them were like, that's 00:49:57.349 --> 00:50:00.909 insane. And then they've seen how the first year 00:50:00.909 --> 00:50:02.949 went, right? And it's like, oh, shoot, maybe 00:50:02.949 --> 00:50:07.949 he's on to something. Yep, hey. Hey, that's part 00:50:07.949 --> 00:50:10.809 of just taking, not taking a risk, but thinking 00:50:10.809 --> 00:50:13.909 outside and going from there. Well, like, that's 00:50:13.909 --> 00:50:16.969 my original conversation with Russell before 00:50:16.969 --> 00:50:19.550 I, the Russell game, and that was one of my very, 00:50:19.650 --> 00:50:21.929 really, that's my first discussion even before 00:50:21.929 --> 00:50:28.449 Kingsway. Yeah. Was Russell, Russell played, 00:50:28.590 --> 00:50:33.630 I don't know what you want to call him, was a 00:50:33.630 --> 00:50:37.250 very, extremely supportive. person while we were 00:50:37.250 --> 00:50:43.650 and he still is always yep yep um uh through 00:50:43.650 --> 00:50:48.630 that whole entire journey um and he was my first 00:50:48.630 --> 00:50:51.070 discussion about the sale and he said hey if 00:50:51.070 --> 00:50:55.650 you don't risk you'll never know yeah and that's 00:50:55.650 --> 00:50:59.349 when i decided just to jump two feet in and go 00:50:59.349 --> 00:51:02.190 for it and when it comes to wrestle especially 00:51:02.190 --> 00:51:04.650 like this one it's a passion and heart project 00:51:05.289 --> 00:51:08.449 I think he would be your biggest cheerleader 00:51:08.449 --> 00:51:12.489 slash supporter slash grunt work, whatever you 00:51:12.489 --> 00:51:15.409 would need. Russell would step up any way you 00:51:15.409 --> 00:51:18.929 need and has, as I know, has done so and would 00:51:18.929 --> 00:51:23.030 do so because that is Russell to a T. He's still 00:51:23.030 --> 00:51:28.230 a major part. Yeah, so that's great. So, you 00:51:28.230 --> 00:51:32.579 know, this obviously isn't the... ideal circumstance 00:51:32.579 --> 00:51:34.920 of what you guys have gone through with Brooks. 00:51:35.139 --> 00:51:41.340 It's not been easy. You've done just that. You've 00:51:41.340 --> 00:51:44.760 made a tough situation and still not an easy 00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:48.099 situation. But you've made a positive that I 00:51:48.099 --> 00:51:54.139 think is amazing for you guys. What would you 00:51:54.139 --> 00:51:58.369 say to someone as say they are going through 00:51:58.369 --> 00:52:00.050 or happen to have something like this happen 00:52:00.050 --> 00:52:01.909 to them, what advice would you give them, and 00:52:01.909 --> 00:52:03.869 what advice would you say to them about trying 00:52:03.869 --> 00:52:15.909 to give back? Oh, my advice going, oh, man. Or 00:52:15.909 --> 00:52:17.630 even just the hospital stays, because I know, 00:52:17.690 --> 00:52:19.630 like, we've had circumstances in our family where 00:52:19.630 --> 00:52:23.150 we've had extended with children. So my advice 00:52:23.150 --> 00:52:28.260 would be is to keep a positive attitude. um and 00:52:28.260 --> 00:52:30.800 and if you're a faith person obviously lean on 00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:34.179 your faith community uh which is something we 00:52:34.179 --> 00:52:36.619 did big time between the church and the school 00:52:36.619 --> 00:52:43.000 um but yeah like you gotta a lot of times i find 00:52:43.000 --> 00:52:47.500 uh people want to work against the nurses or 00:52:47.500 --> 00:52:51.320 almost you know like and i find if everybody's 00:52:51.320 --> 00:52:54.760 working as a team everything works better would 00:52:54.760 --> 00:53:00.260 be my major advice. And, yeah, and be there for 00:53:00.260 --> 00:53:03.239 your kid, right? Like, you're obviously the number 00:53:03.239 --> 00:53:07.300 one advocate for your kid. And don't be afraid 00:53:07.300 --> 00:53:11.940 to make noise where you need to. I've always 00:53:11.940 --> 00:53:14.559 found any time that we've had to make noise, 00:53:14.719 --> 00:53:18.400 it's always been very well received by nurses, 00:53:18.559 --> 00:53:22.880 right? And nurses will advocate for you as well, 00:53:23.039 --> 00:53:27.590 right? And that's... And that's important in 00:53:27.590 --> 00:53:32.230 the journey. As far as giving back, yeah, I don't 00:53:32.230 --> 00:53:36.610 know what the right jump, like take a risk, I 00:53:36.610 --> 00:53:41.210 guess, is the advice I'd give. There's many different 00:53:41.210 --> 00:53:45.530 ways to do it. For us, this was, like I said 00:53:45.530 --> 00:53:47.590 earlier, the organic way for us to do it in an 00:53:47.590 --> 00:53:52.489 industry that we are part of anyway. But, yeah, 00:53:52.570 --> 00:53:55.920 I don't know. And what would, like, what does 00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:57.800 it mean to you or what would you say to the community 00:53:57.800 --> 00:54:00.159 that has supported you guys helping this become 00:54:00.159 --> 00:54:04.980 a success? Oh, that's a huge thank you. Yeah, 00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:08.840 like, I think I've posted many times. Without 00:54:08.840 --> 00:54:13.420 the consignors trusting in the original sale, 00:54:13.659 --> 00:54:18.780 we're not at year five or six. Yeah, for sure. 00:54:19.480 --> 00:54:22.860 Right? Like, really. All my emails that day could 00:54:22.860 --> 00:54:27.340 have been, no, we're not joining in, right? But 00:54:27.340 --> 00:54:31.440 every one of them seen a plan or seen what could 00:54:31.440 --> 00:54:36.099 be, and they all jumped on board. And I don't 00:54:36.099 --> 00:54:38.139 know the exact things, but I would say a lot 00:54:38.139 --> 00:54:41.900 of them have become perpetual supporters. Yeah, 00:54:42.079 --> 00:54:46.260 a lot of our sales, yeah, repeats over and over 00:54:46.260 --> 00:54:50.400 and over and over again. And that part of it 00:54:50.400 --> 00:54:54.400 means a lot to me as well. And I think I tried 00:54:54.400 --> 00:54:57.440 to convey that to a lot of consignors still. 00:54:58.340 --> 00:55:02.260 That part means a lot to me, to have the same 00:55:02.260 --> 00:55:04.559 people trust you year after year after year. 00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:07.480 If you were listening while doing chores or driving 00:55:07.480 --> 00:55:11.360 between farms, here's the simple takeaway. Calves 00:55:11.360 --> 00:55:14.079 for a Cause started with one tired dad in a NICU 00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:17.559 chair, one Facebook idea, and a community that 00:55:17.559 --> 00:55:21.559 refused to say no. And it's now turned into more 00:55:21.559 --> 00:55:24.960 than $170 ,000 for Children's Health Foundation 00:55:24.960 --> 00:55:28.139 and the kids cared for at London Children's Hospital. 00:55:29.559 --> 00:55:31.800 If you want to see the full story, the photos, 00:55:31.940 --> 00:55:34.539 and details on this year's sale at Canadian Dairy 00:55:34.539 --> 00:55:38.340 XPO, head over to thebullvine .com and look for 00:55:38.340 --> 00:55:43.039 the feature, Calves for a Cause, $170 ,000 and 00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:46.869 counting. If this episode hit home, share it 00:55:46.869 --> 00:55:49.510 with one other dairy family, 4 -H leader, or 00:55:49.510 --> 00:55:52.070 show committee in your life. Stories like this 00:55:52.070 --> 00:55:55.230 do more for dairy's reputation than any ad campaign 00:55:55.230 --> 00:55:58.650 ever could. Thanks for listening to the Bullvine 00:55:58.650 --> 00:56:00.570 Podcast. We'll catch you next time.