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ASI recognizes award recipientsTwo longstanding American wool industry members received the prestigious American Wool Council Wool Excellence Award at the American Sheep Industry Association/National Lamb Feeders Association Annual Convention, which took place Jan. 26 to 28 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The American Wool Council recognized Don Van Nostran (Ohio) and Bob Woodbury (Colorado) for their contributions to the American wool industry. Van Nostran retired from Mid-States Wool Growers Cooperative Association in 2008 after spending 19 years as the general manager. During his tenure, he developed a new automated grading system for handling wool. This process increased the cooperative's efficiency, saving it both time and money. In addition to the new processes, Van Nostran served as a liaison between the cooperative and the producers. "Don is both an innovator and a forward thinker. Everyone that worked with Don knew that all they needed was a handshake when doing business with Mid-States," declared Darrell Keese, Keese International. Van Nostran graciously accepted this honor and stated that he continues to enjoy working in the sheep industry. He and his wife currently operate a small sheep farm in Ohio. Bob Woodbury from Woodbury Wool was the second recipient of the Wool Council Award. "In the many years that he has worked in the wool industry, Bob Woodbury or 'Woody' as he is known, represented the wool mills as honestly as possible. His love of the wool industry has been a constant for the past 60 years," stated Bruce Barker, Great Plains Wool, who presented the award to Woodbury. Woodbury was very gracious in his acceptance speech, naming many, many people that he has worked with throughout the past 60 years, giving them credit for making his job successful. "The Wool Council chose well in acknowledging these two outstanding individuals who have worked to better the wool industry. It takes many individuals to build a successful industry and Don and Woody stand out in the crowd as being well deserving of this award," said Rita Kourlis Samuelson, ASI's wool marketing director.
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