For me personally, it was right behind the births of my three daughters as a highlight of my life as I led the cattle drive with 300 people horseback and 75 Texas Longhorns down the Mull Trail and through the town of Malta Bend. Please take the time to
listen to events of the day, including the sound of hooves pounding the pavement.
The flag you see me carrying on Toby the pink mule was donated to the Cattle Drive thanks to Jon Simpson and sent to us from Caption Daniel Swanson serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. The Central Missouri ROTC program performed an honor guard ceremony officially delivering the flag that flew at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Oct 1, 2007, to us. John Rector from Marshall, MO, purchased the flag and it will fly at his Chevy Dealership in Marshall.
The pink mule was to bring a greater awareness for the need for early detection and research of breast cancer. We generated $3,400 that will be presented to the local Fitzgibbon Cancer Center to assist in beginning construction on the cancer wing of the hospital. Anyone who was willing to donate money to the Cancer Center could have their picture taken with the pink mule. All of the names of people who donated were placed in a hat then we held a drawing to give a one person a breast cancer quilt. Kristi Boedaker, a three time cancer survivor, pulled out the name of Heather Arth. Call it irony .... call it fate ... but Heather was the very first cancer survivor to have her picture taken with the pink mule.
The revenue from the cattle drive generates proceeds for the Houston E. Mull Scholarship fund and is going to be a net of over $20,000. Yes, before expenses, the community support for the weekend is roughly $30,000. It is now our job to make sure all of those dollars are spent to make a difference in the lives of young people. The scholarships have been awarded in the local community but with the success of this weekend, we will start a national presentation.
Click below to read Marshall Democrat News article about the event's success in three short years.
$20,000 in scholarships passed out to local seniors in honor of Houston Mull
It is truly amazing that a young man who lived only 15 short years can have touched so many lives, but indeed that is the case, and Houston E. Mull continues to make a huge impact in improving the lives of fellow human beings. I am proud to be a part of the event. (The photo to the right is of the first time I had the honor of meeting Houston E. Mull.)
Marcia Gorrell is the local correspondent for the Marshall Democrat News and she has done a tremendous job reporting on all of the activities. Here is the front page story from the Friday paper as well.
Loos stands up to those who say agriculture stinks - 'Annual Houston Mull Cattle Drive is a chance to honor a young man who wanted to make a career of farming
I don't even know where to start in describing the 4th annual Houston E. Mull Memorial FFA Scholarship Cattle Drive. The epitome of everything good about life in Rural America was on display in Saline County, MO, on Saturday, Nov. 3. This year, more wonderful causes were added and every single one of them made a real difference.
