I am honored to be elected as President of our wonderful Alliance for the upcoming term. For those that do not know me I would like to introduce myself. I am a proud Union Ironworker by trade and live in South East Michigan. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and three children, two boys and a bonus daughter who acts more like me than any of them.
My first introduction to chickens was while I was growing up where my parents would raise meat chickens for butchering to feed our family. I learned not to get attached because they were livestock and not pets. That was until my Uncle Dave, who some of you have met, let me bring home a small chick from a local flea market. Beeper ended up being a barred rock pullet and that is when I knew one day, I would have a flock of chickens.
It wasn’t until I was married in 2009 that I found out about Ameraucana while researching chickens for a laying flock. I quickly fell in love with the idea of blue eggs and soon found myself driving to Birch Run. That’s when I first met John Blehm and got my first large fowl Silver and Black Ameraucana. After seeing John’s hatchery/breeding set up, I quickly realized I needed more. So, I did what every parent does, signed my children up for 4H to justify my sickness.
Now my children are grown, with my youngest being a sophomore in college, and I still have the Ameraucana. Not only do I have my chickens but I also have many new friends that I have made along the way. You see what started as research for a laying chicken has turned into the hobby of raising exhibition poultry. More importantly enjoying the fellowship of like-minded fanciers at the occasional show I may attend.
Although the role of President will be new for me, I am not new to the board. I have previously served two terms as director and am looking forward for this opportunity as well. It truly is an honor to give back to a Club that has given me such joy over the years. So please feel free to contact me anytime throughout the next two years with any Alliance related issues or if you just want to talk about Ameraucana. Better yet just meet me at the National, who knows you might just get to meet uncle Dave too.
Russell Blair <slicktree [at] hotmail.com>