In March, Chris Stephens and I traveled to Winona, Miss., to celebrate the life of the late Bill Ellard. This was my first visit to EE Ranches in Mississippi, and as I spent the weekend with Bill’s family and closest friends, listening to the many stories, some dating back to Bill’s childhood, it became very evident to me just how important preserving the future and providing opportunity for young leaders was to Bill.
We spent some time going through scrapbooks from the All American Hereford Expo that EE Ranches hosted in 1988 — what a tremendous outpouring of Southern hospitality was extended by Bill and Jo to hundreds of Hereford youth and their families. Now, more than 20 years later, Hereford youth around the nation are still experiencing an outpouring of generosity from Bill Ellard with the EE Ranches $5,000 scholarships that are presented each fall. [READ FULL ARTICE]