I married Brad in 1975. He graduated college in 1978, and we moved to his family farm. We purchased a pair of Appaloosas, and I was a horse 4-H leader for 5 years. We share cropped with Brad’s parents, and in 1983, I purchased a pair of goats again. By the time a few years passed, we were deep in goats and opened a dairy on property adjoining the family farm. 

We had a raw milk license, fudge permit, and a farm store where we sold goat related items. Brad did engineering contract work in the winter months, and farmed in the spring and summer months. I stayed home and ran the dairy. Dairying was quite an educational experience.  Through strict PA inspection, we learned the difference between producing milk and producing quality milk. We learned the difference between managing a dozen goats and managing 60 goats. We learned about the fine line one walks metabolically with high producing does. We learned about nutrition – both what goes into the goat, and the milk she produces.

We had much fulfillment in those years selling milk to the public. We saw young mothers with bags under their eyes carrying crying babies. They would tell us, “Gramma says in her day they fed sickly babies goat milk”. We would watch these tired and exasperated moms become rested and the babies become healthy and happy. We saw people with digestive disorders such as stomach ulcers and colitis begin to feel better. We saw cancer patients who could spend months avoiding IV feeding because their bodies could extract nutrition easily from goat milk when no other foods would stay in their stomachs. My favorite customer was a 70 year old fellow that had never had milk products due to allergies. He found that goat milk agreed with him. One day his wife told me, “Cream Soup! Cream Pie! Ice Cream! I swear every meal we have anymore is cream something or other! Now he thinks I should learn how to make cheese.” So yes, although dairying was a mammoth amount of work, there was much reward. 

We were on DHI test for 6 years, and began participating in linear appraisal in 1989. I went to shows, and was active in the local goat club, where I held nearly every office at one time or another. In 1996, Brad received a job offer in West Virginia. We sold the dairy, most of the goats and off we went. I’ve gone full circle with the goats. I’m back enjoying them for the splendid creatures they are. I have about 20 Saanens these days. 

I find Saanen breeders to be much like the breed they have chosen – easy temperament, hard working, and in for the long haul. This is particularly true of the current NSBA board.  Together, we have made many changes. We have an extraordinary web site.  We have 2 display boards, one on each coast, which are available for promotion. We designed a new breed brochure. We created new programs for recognition of our breed, such as Linear Appraisal, One Day Test, and Total Doe Programs. We've updated the rules for All American and DHI Test awards. We have had an excellent display at Convention, and had several successful fund raisers. The Saanen Issue of UCN has become a grand display of the breed through the efforts of our work force. Our newsletter continues to be an award winning publication that shows up in our mailboxes with regularity, even in the most hectic seasons of the year. All of this has been accomplished by a large base of workers, much like a large herd of Saanens working for the milk check. I'm honored to serve as your president (herd manager).

I am proud to be a part of such an exciting organization full of hard working folks with a common purpose. 

The color photo is me with Leonard and Levi, my current cart goat project. I still go to shows on occasion, participate in linear appraisal and one day test each year. But mostly, these days I enjoy living at the back of a serene West Virginia hollow where the only sounds are of birds chirping and an occasional goat voice saying hello.
 

Marilyn