On our first day of road travel on the trip we departed Denver after 2.5 days of classroom days. We headed towards Ulysses, Kansas but we stopped for dinner at the Smith Ranch in Sharon Springs, KS. After getting done with our trip, I still feel It was probably the warmest welcome and most relaxed environment we encountered. The high school cheerleaders were recruited to help serve our ice cream and most of the girls were just entering high school this upcoming year. We ended up passing a hat for them and raised over $1,000 dollars for them within about 20 minutes. Our group alone raised over $700 of that. They did a few cheers for us, although they had only practiced together for a week. It was a pretty awesome moment that $1,000 was raised for these kids that we didn't know in a very SMALL town, and we only passed through for a few hours! None of us will ever forget that nor will we forget that evening! The NCBA new CEO, Forrest Roberts also attempted the zipline in the backyard. He made it successfully across the pond and raised $1,000 for the NCBA Political Action Committee in doing so. It was an evening filled with great food, great new friends, and more importantly great generosity! Our night in Kansas will continue to touch me and remind me of the good people and generous spirits that continue to represent the cattle industry no matter where you are!
