July 22, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Holly Martin, director of communications

816-383-5143

hmartin@angus.org

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Cutline: Darrell Stevenson of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, presents Paige Lemenager of Hudson, Illinois the 2024 Jim Baldridge Outstanding Leadership Award at the National Junior Angus Show on July 5 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Paige Lemenager recognized as Outstanding Leadership Award recipient

Illinois junior receives the Jim Baldridge Outstanding Leadership Award at the 2024 National Junior Angus Show

Leadership is a viable skill for members of the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA). For her abilities, Paige Lemenager was announced as the 2024 Jim Baldridge Outstanding Leadership Award recipient at the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), July 5 in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I felt humbled and incredibly proud to receive this award,” Lemenager said. “I was proud that other people had put their confidence in me to continue being a strong leader.”

The award recognizes an NJAA member who shows integrity and serves as a role model to others within the association. Lemenager of Hudson, Illinois, was presented with a trophy and awarded a $5,000 scholarship.

“To me, leadership can be the smallest interactions that you have throughout the day,” Lemenager said. “It could be a one-on-one conversation that nobody else sees.”

Lemenager is currently a state director but has previously served as president, vice president, show secretary and secretary for the Illinois Junior Angus Association.

She received her associate’s degree as an agriculture transfer student at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois, this spring, while competing on their livestock judging team. This fall, she will transfer to Texas Tech University in Lubbock to study animal science with an agricultural economics minor and will be a member of Texas Tech livestock judging team.

Upon graduation, Lemenager plans to attend law school to become an attorney in estate and succession planning.

“I want to help farmers and ranchers, not only in my community, but in my state and in other states as well,” she said. “Just really helping people manage the legacies they’ve built, specifically shaping their futures for their families and future generations.”

In addition to her career goals, Lemenager said she sees her leadership continuing after her junior membership expires.

“Leadership was my way of helping others in the Angus family grow our breed as a whole,” she said. “I have a strong desire to give back one day, whether that be as a mother, whether that be as an advisor or a breeder impacting someone else’s life.”

First instituted in the 1990s, The Outstanding Leadership Award was created to acknowledge an honorable youth leader within the NJAA. In 2013, Bill and Betty Werner of Werner Angus, Cordova, Illinois, donated $50,000 to establish an endowment fund and provide a scholarship for the Outstanding Leadership Award recipient in honor of their close friend, Jim Baldridge – a lifetime member and supporter of the American Angus Association^®.

To learn more about the Jim Baldridge Outstanding Leadership Award or other NJAA events, visit www.angus.org/NJAA. Additional coverage of the NJAS is also available on the NJAA social media channels, online at www.njas.info and in the September issue of the Angus Journal.

– Written by Megan Clark, Angus Journal

About the National Junior Angus Association

The NJAA promotes the involvement of young people in raising Angus cattle while also providing leadership and self-development opportunities for more than 4,500 active members nationwide.

ANGUS MEANS BUSINESS. The American Angus Association® is the nation’s largest beef breed organization, serving more than 22,000 members across the United States, Canada and several other countries. It’s home to an extensive breed registry that grows by more than 300,000 animals each year. The Association also provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers and others who rely on Angus to produce quality genetics for the beef industry and quality beef for consumers.

For more information about Angus cattle and the American Angus Association, visit www.angus.org.