A belated and heartfelt “thank you” to all of our veterans! Thank you for your service to keeping us safe despite the risk to yourself. I spent some time in the snow over the long weekend. That wasn’t the plan, but the sun helped keep the temperatures pleasant. During the trip, I had the opportunity to thank, in person, just a few of the many who serve or have served in the armed forces.
Now I am back in the PNW. My first stop was Portland, Oregon, where I attended a few hours of the Food Safety and Sanitation Workshop. Thanks to Girish Ganjyal, Cathy Blood, Claire Murphy, and colleagues for their work putting together the workshop, which attracted participants from around the U.S. I enjoyed interacting with a few participants and seeing several vendor booths before getting on calls to fill time before my flights back to Pullman.
I hear plans are coming along for this year’s WSU 4-H Giving Tuesday campaign on Dec. 3, with many of our county and tribal offices participating in the match challenge. For the challenge, I have agreed to contribute an additional $100 to each county that raises $1,000 for the campaign. I hope every office raises enough to meet the challenge and that everyone across CAHNRS can help each other get over the finish line. I can’t wait to hear the outcome.
We are fortunate to host the Washington State Beef Commission on the Pullman campus this week for its fall board meeting. This is a great opportunity for us to share some of the exciting work going on in the college. We’ll introduce the commission members to our new farm managers and show them the facility upgrades that are underway and in the planning stages. The associate deans and I look forward to meeting the commission members, sharing a few college updates, and hearing what’s on their minds.
This week finishes out with a few standing meetings with immediate team members and support units from around WSU. The associate deans and I are meeting with members of the Senate Ag Committee and our federal relations team to talk about capacity funding and its value in helping CAHNRS meet its land-grant mission by creating societal impacts. I look forward to the conversation.