I have heard that Louis Latimer has been talking about getting some Shorthorn heifers for some of the grand kids to show. Louis went through the Shorthorns at the Fever sale last fall. Their production sale was the next day, so he did not make it back to the Fever sale.
A little story about the Latimer family. When I was a teenager, I used to board a bus and travel to Olds, Alberta to work for a couple of weeks at Remitall. Louis and Carroll were still in partnership then and I was paid $10 per day in wages. Our day started at 5 am, and we worked until dark , which was around 9 pm. One year before their Shorthorn production sale, we washed all the Shorthorns , including the cow herd not being sold as well as all the Polled Hereford cows as well. All cows were haltered and tied to a fence and washed. There was more than a few rodeos as many of these cows had never been haltered before. None of us that worked there before their sales ever questioned how much we were paid, as we thought of it as a priveledge to work at Remitall.
In 1968, the Shorthorn herd was dispersed. The day before the sale, we got up at 4 am and we had an actual dress rehersal, where all the cattle were dressed, put through the sale ring in sale order, and put back in their pens. Louis timed each lot, as he wanted the sale to be quick and snappy. By 6 am we were done, so we caught all the cattle and washed them again... and finished just minutes before the sale crowd started to arrive for the presale viewing and presale party. They did look pretty squeeky clean but it was lots of work... and we all did it without any complaints.
After the Shorthorn disperal, Louis asked my dad if he would allow me to accompany Gary Latimer on a 2500 mile ( one way) trip to Quebec delivering sale cattle. Gary and I had both just turned 16 years old and we were sent on this trip in a 1965 Dodge Fargo truck with a special built 32 foot box on it. It was actually so long that it was illegal to be on the roads in Ontario, as we found out when the cops pulled us over and measured it. We bought bulls and females all the way down and back on this trip. We also had the first Polled Herefords to go to Louada Manor Farms in Ontario. Once we got to Quebec we had an empty truck, at least for a few miles anyways. We then picked up all the cattle we had purchased on the way down and we had a packed truck by the time we got back to Alberta. Remitall had a piolicy that if you purchased a bull from them, they would buy back bulls from you that were sired by the Remitall bull(s) you had purcahsed.
When I think back to the responsability that was placed on two 16 year old kids, I really have to shake my head. It especially strikes home with me when I see some 16 year old kids today and I think that Gary and I were the same age when we made this trip.