California Bountiful Gala to honor rodeo icon Cotton Rosser

» September 1, 2011 «

Rodeo icon Cotton Rosser will be honored and cowboy humorist Baxter Black will entertain at the first California Bountiful Gala, to be held Sept. 30 in San Luis Obispo.

Rosser, founder of the Flying U Rodeo Co., will receive the inaugural California Bountiful Foundation Public Outreach Award for his lifetime of dedication and support of the farming and ranching community. Black, a former large-animal veterinarian who has been entertaining audiences with his poetry and observations since the 1980s, will perform during the event.

Other highlights for the evening will include live and silent auctions as well as guest speaker Jeff Armstrong, president of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The event will begin at 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

Individual tickets to the gala are $125 and include the reception, dinner and entertainment. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the California Bountiful Foundation, a charitable organization of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

"The goal of the California Bountiful Foundation is to support agricultural research, education and public outreach," CFBF President Paul Wenger said. "Cotton Rosser represents all of the principles of the foundation. He has created a legacy of innovative and effective public outreach and education on behalf of farmers and ranchers, and we're proud to acknowledge his work with our first Public Outreach Award."

Sponsors for the event include Rabobank, Nationwide, Monsanto, AlMar Ranch, Hood River Distillers, Wenger Ranch, Community Bank of Santa Maria, Steve Beneto, and Dick and Cathie Bradley. For more information about the California Bountiful Gala, including sponsorships, event registration and tickets, call 916-961-3891 or visit www.cfbf.com/bountifulgala.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of approximately 76,500 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 6.3 million Farm Bureau members.

Contact: Dave Kranz
Phone: 916/561-5550
news@cfbf.com

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.