Email Dr Don Sanders
Doc Sanders - graduated from Waynesfield-Goshen High School with a noteworthy athletic career and a scholastic record worthy of him being invited back years later to speak at commencement and accept his alma mater's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He attended Ohio Northern University for two years, transferred to the Ohio State University and subsequently was accepted into Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine. Doc met his wife-to-be, Judy, in anatomy lab during their first year of veterinary college. A romance slowly blossomed over the next three years leading to marriage in 1968. After a short stint as a veterinarian at Scioto Downs, he and Dr. Judy moved to Urbana, Ohio, to set up their practice. Their practice steadily grew, and in 1974 they completed construction of their state-of-the-art veterinary hospital - the Urbana Veterinary Clinic - which gained national recognition and awards. It is equipped to handle most any type of domestic animal, from a three-pound kitten to a 3,000-pound draft horse. It includes surgical facilities for not only dogs and cats but also cows, pigs, sheep, goats and horses. The opening of this facility was not nearly the milestone event as was the birth of their children: Michelle, in 1974, David in 1977 and their son Allen in 1979. During their formative years, the Sanders children spent a good amount of time on the job with their parents. Doc is a board-certified theriogenologist, a specialist in animal reproduction, he is one of 330 theriogenologists in the world and one of only about 25 who qualified through a series of examinations to take the oral and written certification test without being enrolled in a three-year university residency program. Recently Doc finished a term as Treasurer of the executive board of the College of Theriogenology. Over the years, Doc has been a relatively prolific author. He has written more than 50 technical papers on various aspects of diagnosis, herd management, diseases and herd investigations. In the glorious days before the Internet, his papers circulated in 94 countries. In the mid-1980s, at the request of the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, he authored a consultant's trouble-shooting guide to serve veterinarians as a template for investigating dairy herd health problems. This was the forerunner of his first book, Dr. Sanders' Guide to Boosting Dairy Profits, published in 1990. Since then he has authored four more technical books on food animals, including Milk Them for All Their Worth! Since the 1990s, Doc's knowledge of dairy cattle health and management has made him a sought after expert witness in court cases throughout the U.S. In addition, he has consulted widely throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, China and Japan. Doc accepted a position as an Associate Professor on the faculty at The Ohio State University providing support in Large Animal Field Services at Marysville. The College of Veterinary Medicine also purchased the large animal portion of their practice so the Urbana clients were included with the change over. The Clinic is now a satellite facility for large animal surgical cases as a part of the Large Animal Field Services at Marysville. Recently Doc and Dr. Judy began a new chapter in their life with the addition of their grandchildren, Sidney, 4 yr. and Carly, 2 yr. which they intend to spoil them rotten!
Email Dale Minyo
Dale Minyo is the most widely recognized farm broadcaster in Ohio. Dale is well known for his continuous promotion of Ohio agriculture as the former director of farm broadcasting on the ABN. Dale makes good use of the public speaking skills he learned as president of the Ohio FFA Association in 1983-84 when speaking at numerous agricultural banquets, classes and youth meetings around the Buckeye state. Raised on a 157 acre poultry and cow-calf farm in northwest Noble County near Cumberland, Dale’s experiences in 4-H and FFA are the foundation from which his love of agriculture began. Dale traveled Ohio for his public speaking events and ABN Midday LIVE On the Road broadcasts in a Biodiesel-powered 2006 Dodge one-ton Mega-Cab truck. The truck was a product of the combined forces of ABN and the Ohio Soybean Council to show the effectiveness of the soybean based fuel which powers the vehicle. The truck averaged 40,000 miles of travel around the state of Ohio annually.. Along with his tireless dedication to agricultural radio, Dale further promoted the agricultural industry from 1995 to 2002 as the co-host with Ed Johnson and then host of the Agri Country television show which reached more than 500,000 people every Saturday for its 1,000 original episodes. The 1/2 hour show was directed at consumers and farmers and gave viewers insight into the industry of agriculture and a unique look at rural Ohio. Currently, Dale is a host on Down the Road, a 1/2 hour agriculturally based program airing on RFD-TV. Down the Road features segments on large and small animal care and health, cooking ideas, Ohio’s happenings and rural interests. Dale further supports Ohio agriculture as a member of the Ohio FFA Sponsors Team and past chairman of the Ohio FFA Alumni Council and past member of the Ohio FFA Board of Trustees. Because Dale is one of the most talented and dedicated agricultural promoters in Ohio, he has been recognized with the 2000 Golden Feather Award from the Ohio Poultry Association and the 2000 Meritorious Service Award for Producer Communications — Broadcast from the American Soybean Association. Dale began his career with ABN upon graduating from The Ohio State University with a degree in agricultural economics in 1989. As well as serving as an instructor for Dale Carnegie Courses in central Ohio, Dale helps coach his sons in various sports and is active in their community. Dale resides in Morrow County, near Mt. Gilead, with his wife, Cynthia, and sons, Kyle and Ryan.
Email Judy Sanders
Dr. Judy Sanders is the unsung heroine behind her highly visible husband, Dr. Don Sanders. She is the mother of three grown children and a grandmother. She has been a veterinarian and partner with Doc at the Urbana Veterinary Clinic since its inception. She is the hospital administrator as well as lead veterinarian and the "go to" person while Doc has roamed the globe. In 1975 they were recognized nationally for their unique and functionally designed hospital, the Urbana Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Judy's compassion for her patients is legendary. Rarely can she go grocery-shopping without it turning into a couple hour sessions as clients stop her in the store to report how their dog, cat or other critter is doing or not doing. Her clients joke that she rarely remembers their name other than she always can identify them as Fluffy's or Kitty's owner. The chief clerk at the dog license bureau reported that dog owner after dog owner applying for dog licenses often have a story they wish to share about how Dr. Judy saved their dog's life, kept it healthy or has given their dog a new lease on life because of her special intervention and care.
Professionally she is extraordinarily well-respected by her colleagues for her dedication and commitment to her patients and their owners. She is the co-author with Doc of several papers although she will be the first to tell you her patients come first rather than acclaim from her colleagues or the press.
Dr. Judy grew up near Amanda, Ohio where she graduated with high honors from Amanda-Clear Creek High school. She attended The Ohio State University. After two years of undergraduate training she was accepted into the College of Veterinary Medicine - an astounding feat for her time. At that time she and two other women made up the female contingent of the vet school class. She received many academic honors while attending veterinary school. This is also where she met her future husband although she will be the first to tell you in those days, she made no bones about not having time for a beau. Her total commitment was to become a veterinarian. During her last year of training and a four year courtship, married her husband, Doc prior to both of them graduating in 1968. Dr. Judy has always been the woman behind the scenes orchestrating their practice while balancing raising a family, clinical patient load and emergency duty. She no longer does large animal practice, sticking to every pet species owners present. Even though she isn't driving the roads anymore to the next cow calving or sow with mastitis, she still maintains her ties and skills to animal agriculture. Dr. Judy herself a rare breed!
Email Bonnie Ayars
Bonnie Ayars is a wife, mother, teacher, vocalist, exceptional cook and recognized as a cattle judge. She now has added a new dimension to her repertoire - television personality. After graduating from high school, she majored in music at Otterbein College but transferred in her junior year to The Ohio State University to complete her degree in home economics education. That decision brought more singing and entertaining opportunities! At the invitation of the Dean of the College of Agriculture; she provided entertainment at the Intercollegiate Judging Contest banquet where she met her future husband, John Ayars. They later married and Bonnie joined him in developing Land of Living dairy farm. It is an international icon for purebred Guernseys but is also a premier marketer of Brown Swiss under the New View prefix. A visit to Bonnie and John's Land of Living farm reflects the care and effort that goes into developing these high genetic merit cattle. On any given day cows might be scheduled for recovering embryos to implant in surrogate mothers or special cows have eggs recovered for in vitro fertilization (similar to test tube babies). John is internationally known for his keen eye as a dairy cattle judge having evaluated cows at nearly every major exhibition in the U.S. and Canada. In years past there have not been many female judges, but Bonnie is! Under John's tutelage Bonnie has developed that same keen eye for the fine points of a dairy cow. Bonnie has judged at many of the major shows at state fairs and even the Royal Winter Fair in Canada. She is only the fourth woman in history to be invited to judge at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. What breed is she judging? - Of course, Guernseys! Through the daily rigors of running a dairy farm, whether it is carefully observing a cow near calving or managing records and calves, Bonnie has continued to bake and sample new recipes and ideas for family and guests in their farm home. Her efforts have been rewarded and she was a finalist in the Crisco and Family Circle bake-off held in Nashville, Tennessee. Few know however that she skipped out of the final hoopla of the contest to attend a cattle show!
Along the way she has spent almost 20 years in the classroom teaching Family and Consumer Science, providing leadership on their state board. Bonnie even spent time consulting at the State Department of Education, but her real passion is the students. The local principal will tell you there isn't a finer teacher than Bonnie Ayars. Bonnie and John have three sons and they are the true critics in her "test" kitchen. Necessity became the mother of invention as their appetites grew and fostered Bonnie's desire to experiment and create home cooked meals that were both tasty and attractively presented. The boys are all graduates of OSU. Eli, a former Marine, has one degree and pursuing another. Austin is wrapping up his training to become a veterinarian and Lucas is part of the home farm and is working on a Masters in education. They all three have close ties to the farm, food, and Mom and Dad's ideas.
In 1993 Bonnie was named Ohio Agriculture Woman of the Year, in '94 the World Dairy Expo Woman of the Year and she and John are inductees to the Dairy Science Hall of Fame at The Ohio State University. She has served on many boards such as the National Dairy Shrine Board of Directors, Holstein Foundation Board of Directors and was the first woman Chairman of the American Guernsey Association Show Committee. She has been a guest chef at the Ohio State Fair for Ohio Proud Program for two years. Committed to her church she has also sung in the choir, served on numerous committees and most recently on the Board of Trustees. Extremely talented musically she has sung at numerous community functions, the National Anthem at state political functions and created a wide variety of theatrical presentations for many events and groups. Her original book, The Story of Santa Claus Farm, was an inspiration to help connect agriculture and her love of Christmas. Now viewers will get the opportunity to know her through TV as all of her friends, associates and family do - an untiring dedicated personality that makes this world a little better place for the rest of us.
Email Todd Woodruff
Todd Woodruff is a 4th generation Champaign County native. His father, grandfather and predecessors were dairy farmers but with a special talent for breaking and training draft horses. While Todd, doesn’t own a dairy or any draft horses he is actively involved in agriculture. Todd is an auctioneer noted as a first class sale manager and businessman. He and his wife Teri have two sons, Levi, a recent high school graduate and Trevor in elementary school. An interesting side note is that Teri and Todd were actually kindergarten sweethearts that got sent home from school for kissing on the school bus. Teri’s mother still has the letter from the kindergarten teacher reporting Todd’s outrageous behavior. Teri reports that Todd hasn’t changed.
Todd graduated from auctioneer school and his uncle, Merlin, invited him to join his auction firm. Merlin was nationally known for the livestock sales he cried as well as being instrumental in starting the Sale of Champions at the Ohio State Fair. Todd worked with uncle Merlin until his retirement. If he hadn’t become an auctioneer with uncle Merlin, his photo in my opinion would probably have been down in the lobby at the post office.
Today Todd still has a heavy sale schedule selling everything from farm equipment, livestock and household goods to automobiles and antiques.
Todd operates a fleet of trucks with reefers on the road delivering frozen and refrigerated food commodities in 37 states. He also has a catering business and banquet hall. Todd’s success is reflected by his motto, “Respect is earned not given or demanded.” We are truly blessed to have Todd join the hosts at Down the Road-TV adding another facet to the show’s personality.
Email Dale Thompson
Dale Thompson is the VP of Market Development for
Vaca Resources. Dale’s responsibilities consist of sales, marketing and development of new projects for Vaca. Dale was raised on a fourth generation family farm consisting of corn, soybeans and sheep. Dale was involved in 4-H and FFA during his youth and later founded the Mechanicsburg FFA Alumni. Dale also received an Honorary Chapter FFA Farmer degree from the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter. Dale supports his community by serving on the Mental Health, Drug & Alcohol Board, Board Chair for the Clark County Council on Aging, Board member of the Clark County Allocation/Contracting committee, Red Cross volunteer, National Agri Marketing Association as well as the Ohio National Agri Marketing Association, Farm Bureau member and Troy University Alumni.
As Executive Producer for Down the Road, Dale handles corporate and business sponsorships, marketing and public relations duties. He also oversees segment scheduling and has been know to serve as a teleprompter when needed. Dale’s education background consist of Pensacola Jr. College, Florida State University and graduating from the Air Force Community College and Troy University. Dale began his communication career as owner of Thompson Graphics. Dale designed logo's, sale bills, catalogs and advertising for club pig, club lambs and club calf producers. In 1991 he became associated with ABN / AgriCommunicators, Inc. working on Ohio’s Country Journal and later moved into sales for Agri Country and ABN Radio. Dale resides with his daughter Brittany and son P.T. on their small farm in Champaign county, near Urbana raising steers.
Email Becky Anway
Becky Anway is the Marketing Assistant for Association Management Group, LLC (AMG).. She is actively involved in the corporate communications for AMG and also handles marketing, promotions, graphic design and other creative duties. For the last few years as Affiliate Relations and Marketing Manager for the ABN, Becky could be seen around Ohio traveling with the broadcasters for the ABN Midday LIVE remotes and at the various trade shows and events the ABN participated in. Raised on an atypical farm in Highland County consisting of LaMancha dairy goats and decorative Indian corn, Becky’s experiences in 4-H and FFA are the foundation from which her love of agriculture began. She showed dairy goats, market goats and various other non-livestock projects at the Highland County Fair and dairy and market goats at the Ohio State Fair for 11 years. Becky served as President of the Hillsboro FFA and received her State FFA degree. Becky continues supporting Ohio agriculture by serving as a trustee and information chair on the Champaign County Farm Bureau Board and her family is a member of the Prairie Watchdog Advisory Council. She is currently President of the OSU Human, Community and Resource Development Alumni Board and President of the Ohio National Agriculture Marketing Association (NAMA) and Chairman of the Ohio Beef Council Trade Show Committee. Becky was honored as Champaign County Farm Bureau Woman of the Year in 2005. She is a past member of the Ohio 4-H Centennial Celebration Committee and 4-H Celebration of Youth Committee. As Executive Producer for Down the Road, Becky is responsible for segment scheduling, marketing, public relations and promotions. She is also closely involved in sponsorships and various behind the scenes duties. Becky is a 1995 graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in agricultural communication and minor in natural resource management. In college, Becky was an Alpha Gamma Sigma Little Sis and founding member of Alpha Gamma Epsilon. In March 2007, Becky joined the AMG team as Marketing Assistant. Becky began her ABN / AgriCommunicators, Inc. tenure in September of 1993 working on Ohio’s Country Journal and in 1997 became Public Relations Manager for the ABN. Becky has also worked for Equine Affaire and Dailey Fence and Supply joining the ABN in April of 2003 as a Marketing Partner. Becky resides in Champaign County, near Urbana, with her husband, Chris, and daughter, Rylea.
