WORLD DAIRY EXPO HONORS OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEERS

Four "Friends of Expo" were recognized at a special, baseball-themed volunteer appreciation dinner on December 10 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Nearly 150 volunteers gathered to acknowledge their contributions and celebrate a successful 2009 show.

Honored for their years of support and outstanding service to World Dairy Expo, these individuals were selected from among the nearly 400 volunteers who help run the cattle shows, commercial exhibits, youth contests, school tours and Purple Cow Gift Shop during the annual, five-day show. The 2009 honorees include: Connie Kolpin, Gary Kolpin, Lynda Yates and Gordon Marquart.

Connie Kolpin was presented a Friend of Expo Award for the warm reception she provides to World Dairy Expo’s international visitors. Kolpin has managed World Dairy Expo’s International Lounge since 2001, providing snacks and maintaining a comfortable meeting place for guests to conduct global business transactions. During this time, 21,701 individuals from more than 100 countries have enjoyed her hospitality. Over the years she’s prepared 128 bushels of apples, 1,352 pounds of sausage, over a ton of cheese, and a countless number of baked goods and tasty finger foods for the appreciative travelers. In addition to preparing and serving the food, she has also takes time to decorate the area, creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Connie’s husband, Gary “Kope” Kolpin, was also recognized for his many contributions to the show. His meticulous attention to detail and organization skills led to assisting with World Dairy Expo’s “big move” each fall. While the show is held at the Alliant Energy Center, World Dairy Expo’s business office and warehouse is located nearly four miles away. This necessitates physically moving the entire office and much of the warehouse’s contents from one location to the other and back again each year. Kolpin has coordinated the move for the past 14 years, assisting the UW-Madison Badger Dairy Club members with the moving process and carefully inventorying, cleaning and repairing equipment and returning it to storage in an orderly fashion. Hospitality would seem to run in the Kolpin family. While wife Connie is greeting international guests at World Dairy Expo, “Kope” can also be found welcoming more than 1,800 4th grade students, along with their teachers and chaperones each year during World Dairy Expo’s educational school tours.

Lynda Yates, a sales associate with Ascentives Corporate Specialty Solutions of Madison, has a long-standing relationship with World Dairy Expo. Since 1991, she’s assisted staff with procuring special, customized awards for the show’s prestigious dairy cattle shows. In addition, she’s sourced promotional materials including, lanyards, season passes, souvenir pins, identification ribbons, sponsor awards, exhibitor hats, souvenir mugs, judging contest folders and numerous other items used to promote and facilitate the world’s largest dairy show. From the first meeting, it was apparent that Yates had World Dairy Expo’s best interest at heart, always seeking to find bargain prices and working tirelessly to make sure the items were of utmost quality and that they were delivered on time. Given the unique nature of the awards presented over the years, Yates has found the relationship to be rewarding, yet challenging. Sourcing one-of-a-kind items tested her creative abilities and honed her negotiating skills.

Gordon Marquart received a Friend of Expo Award for his work with World Dairy Expo’s trade show. Recently retired from Nasco, Inc., in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, he managed the company’s booth at World Dairy Expo for many years. A long-time member of the Commercial Exhibitor’s Committee, he assisted with drafting rules that are fair to the show’s 750 plus exhibitors and he also helped the show transition from a Wednesday through Sunday to a Tuesday through Saturday format. In addition to his work with the trade show, Marquart spearheaded Nasco’s donation of 600, five-gallon milk buckets for use at the dairy show each year.

World Dairy Expo General Manager, Mark Clarke, expressed thanks to all of the show’s volunteers, likening their efforts to that of a championship ball team. He closed the evening with a quote from the great Joe Dimaggio. “I’m just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win. I’ve never played any other way.”

World Dairy Expo is an international dairy cattle and trade show held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. If you are interested in becoming one of Expo's volunteers, call 608.224.6455. Volunteer opportunities range from tram drivers to cattle check-in crew and school tour group leaders to gift shop sellers. The 2010 show will be held Tuesday, September 28 through Saturday, October 2.