The Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association held its annual meeting Jan. 23 at the Ralph C. Bishop Center, where it named Charles Wallace as the 2020 Cattleman of the Year.

Wallace has been in the cattle business on and off since 1975 and serves as an active volunteer and board member of the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association.

“It means a lot to me to receive this,” Wallace said. “It is a real honor.”

In addition to naming the Cattleman of the Year, a new president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and new board members were named.

Michael Pounders moved up from vice president to replace Caleb Beason as president after Beason’s two-year term came to an end.

Gannon Nunley was named to the position of vice president, and Jack and Bonnie Hargett were appointed to the positions of secretary and treasurer.

Five board members whose three-year terms were ending agreed to serve an additional term: Mike Powell, Mark Massey, Wallace, Ralph Winchester and Barry Pounders.

In addition to those five, Jason Skidmore and Phillip Hamilton were also nominated to serve on the board of directors.

Beason gave an annual report at the meeting informing members that this year Franklin County went “over the top” by having 10 more members this year than the previous year.

“We are very thankful for our members for going out and working to recruit members, whether that is a former member or a new member,” Beason said.

The Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association ended 2020 with a total of 514 members.

“We hope to continue to keep our pace up and keep our membership going as we go into 2021,” Beason said. “We plan to do as many activities this year as we feel are safe and that we are eligible to have.”

Beason also gave a report on the different activities of the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association throughout the year.

“I feel like we did a very good job being active this year given the circumstances, so thank you to everyone who helped out,” Beason said.

The year kicked off in January with the annual meeting before the officers and directors traveled to Montgomery for the state meeting in February.

The Junior/Senior Beef Cook-off was also held in February at the A. W. Todd Center, and the first steak sandwich sale of the year took place in March.

As the pandemic began to hit in April, the association worked to serve front-line workers by cooking for the hospital staff, police force and ambulance staff in Red Bay.

In May the association continued to serve front-line workers by cooking for employees at Russellville Hospital.

The association held its annual picnic in July, and in August officers traveled to Montgomery once again for the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association meeting.

October was Beef Month, which the association celebrated by having a steak sandwich sale and donating 392 pounds of beef to the local high school consumer science programs.

The year wrapped up with the final state board meeting in November and the directors’ Christmas dinner and volunteers’ appreciation supper in December.

Guest speakers for the evening were ACA Regional Vice President Steven Smith and Franklin County Extension Coordinator Katernia Cole-Coffey.

Smith informed members of the new representation for agriculture in Montgomery, and Cole-Coffey educated members on the activities available to them through the Extension office.