Bay County Farm Bureau wastes no weekend.
After a full day of policy and committee work on a Friday, it was time for some fun — and big fun at that.
Bay County’s Member Field Day the next day saw Farm Bureau members at the ice Saturday for a Saginaw Spirit hockey game. The turnout was record-breaking.
“This is our biggest so far. We’ve got around 70 people signed up and that’s pretty exciting,” said Bay County Farm Bureau President Terry Histed. “Even more exciting is that for a lot of them, this is their first Farm Bureau experience.”
The event put members front-and-center — literally — as they enjoyed ice-side viewing from a floor suite complete with food and beverages as the Spirit skated against the Guelph Storm (a 7-3 loss, unfortunately). Bay County’s turnout was so strong the rink-side suite had to add two rows of seats to accommodate the overflow.
“It’s a pretty cool problem to have,” laughed Lisa Zielinski, Bay’s longtime administrative manager. “We’ve done a lot of different things for Field Days — like baseball games — but this is our biggest turnout ever. And for a lot of them this was the first event they’ve ever attended with us.”
County leaders took full advantage of the opportunity by providing each participant with a survey card to gauge their interest in various committees, activities and functions.
“We just want to learn more about our members — what they’re interested in and if they might be willing to get more involved,” Histed said. “You never know until you ask.”
Histed is in his first year getting reacquainted with the role of county president; he served previously in 2010-11. How does he feel about the comeback?
“Well, I never really got away,” he quipped. “I’ve held just about every role you can hold. But I love it and seeing events like this with a lot of new faces, it’s just a lot of fun.”