It’s hard to appreciate from this little thumbnail photo just what a cool venue the Sara Wyant/Allan Johnson lake house was for the Farm Foundation Michael Peterson concert Friday night. You have to go look at the photo album to get a bigger view.
First of all, it is a beautiful house. And it has these three balcony levels so everyone had a perfect view of Michael set up lakeside and the acoustics were excellent.
The event was made possible by our very good friend Gene Hemphill and New Holland. It was his idea two years ago to offer a private concert with Michael to the highest bidder at the NAFB Farm Foundation auction. In 2006, farm broadcaster Pam Jahnke of Madison, WI bought one package and used it for a Wisconsin FFA fundraiser, while the National Farmers Union matched her bid and bought another for their annual convention. Gene says they will offer it up again at the 2008 convention in November.
People from all over the country attended the concert, including some corn guys from Illinois and Kansas who might be familiar faces to AgWired readers. We also had the famous singer and National Biodiesel Board executive director Joe Jobe and his family, as well as some people from as far away as Washington DC, like Karen Coble Edwards who was visiting with Charlene Finck of Farm Journal down at the lake and they both came with their families.
I did a little audio interview after the concert with Sara and Allan, Garry Niemeyer and Ken McCauley, Gene and Michael that you can listen to here.
sara-party-audio.mp3
Cindy got to see Michael Peterson perform on Friday night but I got to see Callaway perform on Saturday night. She did a benefit concert for support of Appaloosa Youth Association activities and was a big hit with the young audience.
If we were a radio station, this would make a great promo spot.
Country music singer Michael Peterson made some young fans happy at a private party at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks Friday night, singing autographs on copies of his “Down on the Farm” CD supplied to guests courtesy of New Holland. But he also got an autographed memento of his own from the event.
The party was a benefit for 
Sara presented the book to Michael in gratitude for his performance and in recognition of his tremendous contributions to rural America. 
While Chuck was busy chasing spotted horses in Mississippi this weekend, I got to go to a really GREAT party at beautiful Lake of the Ozarks, featuring our good friend Michael Peterson. 
Our gracious hosts were Sara Wyant and Allan Johnson, who bought a private concert with Michael at the NAFB Foundation auction last November, courtesy of New Holland and the still-not-retired Gene Hemphill.
You can’t be at a horse show and not see a lot of boots. Some are more noticeable than others.
One thing I don’t think you’ll ever find me doing is calf roping. I may as well jump off a building as a horse after roping a calf. That is, if I could even swing the rope and ride at the same time.
I don’t mean the golf company. Maybe you don’t know 
The