Patty McMurray of Eighty Four, Pa., and Steve Moff of Columbiana, Ohio, were co-recipients of the Obie Snider Award at this year’s All-American Dairy Show.  

Established in memory of Obie Snider, a founder of the All-American Dairy Show, the award recognizes an individual (or individuals) who places significant value in service to the industry and community, and displays high standards of conduct.

Patty McMurray

McMurray has been involved with the All-American Dairy Show since it began in 1964, when her father, John Marchezak, loaded the family and their Twin Brook Farm Guernsey cattle for the long trek from southwestern Pennsylvania to Harrisburg.

McMurray and her husband, John, along with their sons, Justin, Jonathan and Adam, and eight grandchildren keep the family Guernsey tradition alive.

As part of the Penn State dairy judging team, McMurray competed in the collegiate division of the Invitational Youth Dairy Judging Contest. She later used those skills to judge fitting and showmanship in the Pennsylvania Junior Dairy Show, judge the junior division of the All-American Showmanship Contest, and serve as an official for the Invitational Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest and the Dairy Judging Forum.

McMurray served on the show’s 25th anniversary planning committee and the show improvement committee. She was a good housekeeping judge, exhibited in the All-Dairy Antiques Show, offered consignments to the youth benefit auctions and helped initiate the show’s Image Award. She also continues to organize the ever-popular White Pants Exchange for exhibitors.

McMurray is a recipient of the Distinguished Dairywoman Award from the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, and she has served state and national dairy breed associations, including as chairwoman of this summer’s World Guernsey Conference.

McMurray coached Pennsylvania’s first-ever national champion Junior Holstein Dairy Bowl Team in 1983 with Washington County youth as well as other national champion Guernsey dairy bowl teams.

She was also a Washington County 4-H leader, served on the Washington County Dairy Promotion committee, and handled publicity and advertising for the Washington County Fair.  

“Thinking of my deep respect for Obie and the caliber of previous award recipients, I am very honored to be selected, especially for doing something you love, with people you love,” McMurray says.

Steve Moff

Moff has served as a board member for the All-American Dairy Show since 2005, assisting with youth activities and show ethics, and is chairman of the Show Advisory Committee.

For 39 years, Moff has been a dairy programs specialist for COBA/Select Sires. He operated his family’s dairy farm, Ouric Holsteins, with his parents, Howard and Barb Moff, and his brother Greg until they downsized the herd in 2010. He still owns cattle and raises heifers.

Moff represents the Ohio Holstein Association as the current Region 3 director for the Holstein Association USA and is a past national member of the Holstein Junior Advisory Committee. He was also in the inaugural class of the association’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute.

OHIO HOLSTEIN LEADER: Steve Moff of Columbiana, Ohio, is co-recipient of this year’s Obie Snider Award. He represents the Ohio Holstein Association as the current Region 3 director for Holstein Association USA and is a past national member of the Holstein Junior Advisory Committee. Pictured are Harrison Frantz (left); Bruce Snider; Howard, Barb, Jane and Steve Moff; Alan McCauley; and Russell Redding.

He has held offices in the state association, including serving as president when Ohio hosted the national convention in 2000, where he first met Obie Snider.

“In our first conversation, Obie, being a man of faith, complimented the invocation I gave at that convention,” Moff says. “To be considered for this award in his name is so humbling, and I was completely flabbergasted when I learned I was a recipient.”

Moff is the assistant dairy show superintendent at the Ohio State Fair and serves as board member and dairy superintendent for the Canfield Fair.

Always anxious to help youth, he has served as a 4-H leader and has been recognized as an outstanding judge for youth shows, in addition to judging many other local, regional and state shows.

A graduate of Ohio State University, Moff was recently inducted into the Ohio State Dairy Science Hall of Service.

Moff and his wife, Jane, have three children, Neil, Brian and Heidi, and six grandchildren. Moff serves as a deacon, elder and Sunday School teacher, and has been on the local township zoning appeals board.

For more about the All-American Dairy Show, visit allamerican.pa.gov.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.