At the 2019 ABBA National Show held in Rosenberg, Texas held November 19 to 23, there were a number of special awards presented to the breeders and exhibitors. One of these awards was the first ever Marsha Swaner Perpetual Trophy Award. This award was presented to the Grand Champion Red Brahman Female, DB SOUTHERN STYLE 1/553 (P) ‘Iseeyu’, owned by Collin Kyle Parker. This female is a daughter of DB SENATOR 930/2 and MISS DOUBLE DIAMOND 1/135 and the breeders were Will Detering and Michael Martin of Detering Red Brahmans.
The concept of this very special trophy was the inspiration of Reggie Rodriquez. When Marsha Elaine Swaner of Swaner Brahmans passed away January 1, 2019 after a strong and courageous battle with kidney disease, Reggie felt a need to create something special that would honor Marsha and one of her main passions, Red Brahman cattle.
Reggie spearheaded the project and along with her family and friends they created a fund to start the Marsha Swaner Perpetual Trophy Award. This special trophy will be presented every year to the owner of the Grand Champion Red Brahman Female at each year’s National Show. One trophy will be kept at the ABBA offices with each recipient’s name inscribed on the base. The winner of the award each year will receive a duplicate of the trophy to proudly display in their trophy rooms and cases.
During the 2019 National Show the Swaner family, along with a large number of friends, gathered in the arena to be honored. When the judge of the National Show, Dr. Joe Paschal, slapped ‘Iseeyu’ for the Grand Champion Award it was a very emotional moment for the Parker family for a multitude of reasons. Jennifer Parker, Collin’s mother, was on the side-lines and once the judge made his decision clear she jumped for joy, shed some happy tears and hugged Michael Martin all at the same time.
When asked what winning the National Grand Championship meant to them Jennifer explained, “I am humbled and feel blessed that Collin and DB SOUTHERN STYLE 1/553 ‘Iseeyu’ won and will receive the first ever Marsha Swaner Perpetual Trophy. For over 40 years, our family has been friends with the Swaner family. I always enjoyed my conversations with Marsha about cattle and pedigrees and just sitting around the showbox having a good time.”
Family is important to Jennifer and she enjoys traveling across the USA with Collin, her husband Mark and on occasion her mother Patricia Collins, showing cattle.
Jennifer went on to describe how important it was for her to let the entire Swaner family of Steamer, Al, Karen, Pasquale and Kelli know how much she loved Marsha and the whole Swaner family, “To see Collin and ‘Iseeyu’ win the 2019 National Grand Champion Female was amazing, but somehow winning the first ever Marsha Swaner award was ultimately the icing on the cake”!
If you saw how emotional Jennifer became after the judge’s decision, one would never doubt the impact this moment had on her.
But Jennifer was not the only one that felt privileged to win the award as Collin explained,“Mrs. Marsha was like a grandma to me. When Pooh, Monte and I were little, I would spend a lot of time at their stalls and we would all be playing together. Because our family has been friends for so long, I was and am very honored to win this award with Iseeyu. It is something I will never forget.”
DB SOUTHERN STYLE 1/553 is a beautiful polled heifer that is a real Southern Style Brahman female. She was born at Liendo Plantation, the home of Detering Red Brahmans. Liendo Plantation was built in 1853 as the centerpiece to one of the state’s earliest cotton plantations. It is a true gem of historical preservation in modern day Texas. Will Detering was not able to attend the National Brahman Show as he had other commitments at Liendo, but he was delighted when he got the news that DB genetics had won the Grand Championship.
“It’s always a thrill to win a National Championship,” expressed Detering. “But it is an additional honor to be the breeder of the first female listed on the Marsha Swaner Award.” Brahman breeders wanting to contribute to the annual creation of this beautiful memorial trophy to create the duplicate trophy for the annual winners can send donations to: Steven Swaner Jr., P. O. BOX 32722, WACO, TX 76703. Please put on the envelope “ATTN: Marsha Swaner Trophy” and make all checks to the MARSHA SWANER TROPHY.
