The Canadian Charolais Association Honor Roll 2003 - Recipients

CCA Honor Roll Inductee

Don of course the person we all think of when we think of San Dan and he is synonymous with the San Dan name.  Without Don, there would have been no San Dan.

However, San Dan would never have been the total success it was without the sum total of all its parts.  So right up front I want to acknowledge the rest of the team.  Best known in the Charolais circles as Sandra and now known as Sondrh, she was a clear partner in San Dan’s success.  She did all the record keeping and she entertained people from all parts of the world and all walks of life at the drop of a hat.  She was the “Hostess with the Mostest”.  Dan and Duane Pochylko were integral team players from early childhood and worked tirelessly at the operation.  I can remember Don and Sandra being able to go to Maui for two weeks and leave the 10 and 12-year-old boys in charge of the cowherd with the feeding and calving and snowplowing underway. 

I have long believed that you need a unique combination of timing, location, low overhead (as in family involvement that I already spoke of), dedication and a good eye for cattle and trends to succeed as a Purebred cattle breeder.  By way of historical background let’s take a look at the San Dan “timing”: Don graduated from Grade 9 at the ripe old age of 19! FACT!  His subsequent life has proven that either, “B.S. baffles brains” or “Brains will prevail over B.S.

In 1961 Don had a convertible, a ¼ interest in a “syndicated” pool table with his Dad, an interest in a small feedlot with his brother and 60 commercial cows.  He was eyeing the like of Ron Rouse who had been in Charolais for a few years and watching the growth of crossbred calves in the area.  By the fall of ’61 Don was a founding director of the Alberta Charolais Association and had put together a group of 1/2, 3/4, 7/8 and 15/16^th females.  The ’62 calves convinced Don to eliminate the commercials and go “Charolais all the way”.  His bull calves in ’64 grossed $12,000 and he was launched and hooked. 

By 1966 and the arrival of the first full French cattle Don was established and along came Aiglon and two years later, Cabotin and the start of the most exciting and profitable 10-15 year period in the history of the cattle industry in North America and perhaps the world.  San Dan was in the big leagues and Don was taking a leadership role, all of course with his unique brand of humility and understatement…yeah right!!

Don also built a foundation of Mexican full-blood females which when blended with the French gave him something unique to keep him on top when the French started to fade.  In the 70’s Don bought Poker King Jr., and set out to ‘modernize’ the breed.  Two French cows got bred to Junior by mistake.  Don says one of them was on purpose…yeah right!!  But in any event, it became another turning point pioneered by San Dan.

So much for historical timing.  Don was always there at the right time with the right product and knew how to take advantage of any opportunity.  He was better than most at sniffing out opportunities and with a proboscis like he has, it’s no wonder!!

Location is important.  Remember the three important items of, ‘Location, Location, Location’.  Land has to be both affordable and productive.  It has to be ‘cattle friendly’.  San Dan certainly had all this in its location.  Don was always experimenting with grasses and crops for pasture, feed and silage.  Don has been known to say, “If the grass looks greener across the fence it’s probably better tended!”

In the dedication department, Don has few equals.  When he caught the ‘white fever’ he caught it for a lifetime.  Sure the colour has ranged all the way from white through red to black, but it was always Charolais.  The shape has changed from short and thick to tall and lean and back to the middle.  Don either was instrumental in many of the changes or anticipated them early and led the way. 

Don has a great eye for cattle of any breed and has often judged other breeds.  One Polled Hereford breeder from Saskatchewan wrote Don a most complimentary letter after he judged their Agribition show in the mid 80’s.  Continuing in the ‘eye’ department, when Don Peters was starting the Charolais business he had the chance to buy his pick of 25 cows from Charlie Anderson.  He asked ‘Pooch’ to help him pick.  Charlie should have raised the price.  When they picked their 25 head and went to the house to sort out the records, they found that they were from 3 cow families.  They turned out to be the foundation of the Syldon herd.  The 2 Don’s are friends to this day and Don Peters says, “You either go along with Don’s enthusiasm, or he’ll run right over you!”

Back to more recent history. Don had his first production sale in 1974 and had one every year through 1985 in spite of a heart attack in 1984.  San Dan usually had the high sale average for Canadian and sometimes North America . 

In about 1983 Don put together a ‘coalition of the not so willing, but you’re so persuasive’ to buy the Charolais Banner magazine from Rodney and Bob James.  He was like a junior Conrad Black.  He figured the only thing better than making the news would be to control the news!

In ’86 Don took a year off and started SDC Consulting and Marketing in 1987.  Along the way he had a stroke in 2000 and that did slow him up for awhile, but not a day longer than absolutely necessary.  He stopped drinking, smoking and chasing.  Yeah right, maybe for a couple of weeks.  I remember visiting him in the hospital.  He couldn’t talk and was real frustrated.  I asked if I got him a pad and pencil, could he write me an answer.  He gave that chin a typical tug and shook his head, “No!”  I knew that if he could have spoken or written his comment it would have been his trademark, “GARBAGE!!” 

He got back to sale management and along the way managed the highest average sale in North America , the Airhart Dispersal sale.  He founded the Red Bonanza Sale in Red Deer an still is active in that sale with Ted Serhienko and Craig Flewelling.  Don cooks the beef because it “Has to be the best in the world”.  Don also believes, “The beef tastes better if the booze is free”.

Don sold the farm in ’96 and moved to Red Deer . Don is now 64 years old and as he puts it, he is one a countdown for OAS and CPP starting in November this year.  During an overnighter a couple weeks ago to research this presentation, I had to explain to Don what the meaning of ‘clawback’ is when it comes to the OAS.  He still has a shock of hair, but only his hairdresser knows for sure about the color. 

Don is one of the more personable and exuberant people I have known.  He greets everyone, every time with, “Hi, how are you?”  He talks to everyone.  He even listens to some once in awhile.  He would offer all his knowledge and experience to anyone willing to listen.  He would give you the shirt off his back.  He should write a book about cattle and life.

In summary, Don is most deserving of this Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Charolais Association. 

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Canadian Charolais Honor Roll Inductee

Charlie’s passion for the cattle industry is life long.  His love of the Charolais breed expands a period of over 35 years.  His devotion and dedication to the breed has made Wat-Cha Farms into the successful enterprise familiar to and respected by Charolais breeders and cattlemen throughout the world.

From humble beginnings to his present patriarchal stature, Charlie has always been a visionary, a man ahead of his time.  He has quite a story to tell and I’d like to share a bit of it with you.

Charlie was born March 8^th, 1923 at Dromore , Ontario on the family farm 10 miles north of Mount Forest .  He left home in 1938 at the age of 15 with only a knap sack on his back, to sell subscriptions for the Family Herald Magazine.  His travels took him across the province by foot, by rail and by hitching rides when ever and wherever he could, going door to door honing his business acumen even then.  At age 17, he ventured to the big city of Toronto landing a labourer’s job at the Alcan Aluminium plant.  It didn’t take long for him to get noticed and a year or so later moved “upstairs”.

While at Alcan, Charlie met and married his first love, Ethel.  The two were married in 1942, the same year he left for overseas where he served his war years in the army stationed in Holland until 1946.

In 1949 he left Alcan to start his own insurance business and from there on, business – wise there was no looking back.  He found his niche as a developer and over the years became and still is a well known and respected business man and entrepreneur.  However his passion for the business world did not take precedence over his passion for the cattle industry and his beloved Charolais.

It’s hard to believe, especially with Charolais being such a huge part of his life that Charlie got into the business purely by accident.

In the early 1960’s the farm located just north of Mount Forest on #6 Highway supported a herd of Angus cows and was managed by Charlie’s brother Bill.  Realizing that profit outlook was dismal due to poor gaining calves the herd was dispersed through the stockyards and a switch was made to feedlot cattle.  Calves were sourced annually from the west.  Some went on grass and some on full feed.  The purchases were usually made in person with straight Herefords being the preference.  But in 1968, brother Bill contacted an order buyer friend in Alberta who saved them a trip and sent a load of what turned out to be Char/Hereford cross steers mixed with the straight Herefords.  Charlie and his brother were furious and threatened to never do business with the order buyer again if he ever pulled another stunt like that.  Of course the outcome was that the crossbreds excelled.  From that moment on Charlie was motivated to get back into the cow/calf business.  He had already started building a new barn, even though he had no cows.  When finished, the barn became “The Show Barn” as we know it today.

That was in 1968, In 1969 Charlie attended his first Charolais sale near Toronto at the home of his friend Art Stollery owner of Angus Glen Farm and Ankony Charolais hosted by Mr. Stollery and Jim Leachman, his partner in the herd and the famed “Ankony Group”.  Until that day, Charlie had never seen a full French or purebred Charolais.  It was also the day that he met a new friend, John Rudiger.  He left that record breaking sale with two heifers, a yearling and a four month old calf – the cost $35,000.00.  He was the only Canadian buyer at the sale.  The Wat-Cha herd had begun.

Over the next several years Charlie and his young son Charlie travelled North America acquiring cattle and attending association meetings and events. Soon there were over 200 Full French and purebred cows making their home at Wat-Cha.  In 1971 Charlie purchased a further 300 Conception to Consumer calves and they were A.I.’d as part of an “upbreeding” program.  It was a long process that eventually produced purebred stock for the Wat-Cha breeding program.  That same year, Wat-Cha started on the show road showing at the Royal Winter Fair.  That was the year they entered 3 head in the Red Carpet Sale at the American Royal in Kansas .  They sold the high selling bull at $40,000 for ¾ interest (Wat-Cha Alger Abraham) to a syndicate headed by Walnut Hall Farms (founder of the Standard bred horse).  As well they sold the high selling full French female and purebred female.  Quite a day!

1971 Also saw Charlie, meet another challenge head on as one of 10 breeder/business men to incorporate “Modern Ova Trends, Norval , Ontario , one of the first commercial embryo transfer clinics in North America .  Once again he was ahead of his time; the other breeders were all Holstein men.

For the next several years Charlie and his son continued to promote the breed on the road with high sellers and show winners predominately throughout the U.S.    In the meantime, in 1970 they began importing cattle from France making several purchasing trips through the years.  In 1975 Wat-Cha was rated as the largest single importer into Canada , purchasing 47 head in that year alone.

In 1973, the CCA Annual Meeting was hosted by the OCA in Toronto .  Charlie served as Convention Chairman.  With Charlie at the helm the event became one that will always be remembered as ground breaking.  The RWF Champion Bull was marched from the Four Seasons (now the Sheraton) to Queens Park , the provincial Parliament building to be greeted by Premiere Bill Davis, the sale was a record-breaker and one of the first to be held in a Grand Ball Room.  Twenty years later Charlie was the keynote speaker at the CCA Annual Meeting Banquet – in Toronto Charnational 94, still going strong.

Also in the early 70’s, Charlie along with John Devins (CCA President) and Alan Daygrand (formerly with a French government export company) founded an elite sales company, “Coast to Coast Charolais Management”.  Their inaugural sale took place at Wat-Cha Farms in 1974 where 33 head sold for $1 million.  A Canadian record was set when Canada Coal Co of Kentucky purchased the lot #1 female for $65,000 and a Bingo sired embryo for $95,000.  The following year they purchased the granddaughter of that lot #1 female for a record breaking $125,000 and the list of successes goes on.  And all along the way the Watson’s continued to promote the breed and the association at shows and sales throughout Canada and the U.S. and were a constant presence at just about every National U.S. show and major Canadian show.

Charlie also worked hard behind the scenes promoting Agribition along with his good friends in Ontario Dr. Don Wilson and John Wilmont who eventually became an Agribition President.  He is proud to note that he has never missed an Agribition show.  And I am sure he was extremely proud when in 1985 (Agribition having been named the National Show), Wat-Cha Rumour was named the 1^st National Grand Champion Female.  Later in the sale they sold ¼ embryo interest to Twin Tradition Farms, Michigan for $25,000.  What a day for them!

Over the years Wat-Cha Farms has been named Premier Breeder and Exhibitor at the CWA and has won more championships at the Royal than any other breeder.  Quite an accomplishment!  Charlie will be the first to tell you that success on the promotional highway and in the show ring and sales ring begins with management at home.  From Day 1 the Wat-Cha program has always been innovative due to using the most modern management selection and mating techniques available.  From supervised ROP in the early years to the present day CHARM program, ultra sound measurements, the utilization of EPD’s and accurate record keeping as some of their management tools, the decision making process at Wat-Cha is meticulous and certainly produces results to be admired.

Some of Charlie’s other achievements include his service as a director during the early years of the OCA around which time he also co-founded the North American Full French Promotional Council.  Also, very few people know this; in fact I don’t think it has ever been public knowledge until now, that Charlie, along with Chuck Whitney of the Charolais Way Magazine, turned the magazine into the North American Charolais Journal.  The publication later sold to the AICA and is now known as the Charolais Journal.

On the commercial side of the industry, Wat-Cha Farms continued to run a feed-lot operation (Char cross of course) until the mid 1980’s.  From 1986-96 the farm was home to the largest multi-breed bull test station in Ontario with approximately 325 bulls on feed annually and the Watson’s were recognized by the Minister of Agriculture with a Provincial Achievement Award.

Charlie has never stopped promoting Charolais.  He even managed to have a major street in Brampton named Charolais Blvd.   Charlie has been a familiar face at numerous World Federation Meetings over the years and in 2000 was selected as one of the two judges to judge the Supreme Champion at the Vichy show in France .  It was the first time a female was named Supreme Champion.  His global connections have enabled him to Promote! Promote! Promote! on just about every continent and has been a key factor in the exportation to and acceptance of Wat-Cha genetics in over 18 countries world wide.

At home, Charlie has always been very community minded and had quietly and modestly given generously to the community he so enjoys.  He has built and sponsored several playgrounds and parks over the years and as well created and financed the building of the War Memorial Room at the nearby Durham Legion.  His gifts and charitable donations are too numerous to mention but needless to say countless numbers have benefited greatly by Charlie’s generosity.

Over the years Charlie has been President of, or a director on the board of 37 companies most of which have been listed on most of the global stock exchanges.  His contributions to the business world have not gone unnoticed.  One of his most recent awards was given by the city of Brampton ; a park was dedicated and named in his honour – The CF Watson Family Park.  An honour indeed!

Charlie will be the first one to tell you the success he enjoyed would not have been possible without the love and support of his family.  Many of you will remember the late Ethel Watson, a gracious lady whose love for the breed and its people matched that of her husband.   His daughter Shirley born in 1958 now resides in Florida with her husband, Jim, managing a family business.   And of course who doesn’t know Charlie Jr who as first born entered in the world in 1954.  Today Charlie lives in his new home at the farm along with his wife, the former Lynn Haynes with whom he exchanged vows 20 years ago at the family church in Dromore.  Lynn has shared and enjoyed Charlie’s love of the Charolais world with enthusiasm and Charlie notes he is truly blessed with Lynn at his side.

Over the years, young Charlie has worked side by side with his Dad and today continues the Wat-Cha farm tradition along with his children Sierra and Charlie.  Young adults now they grow up involved with Cattle, 4-H, and the Showring!  They represent the 6^th generation of Watson’s following the farming tradition of their homesteading ancestors.

This fall, Charlie and his family will celebrate Wat-Cha’s 35^th anniversary as a Lifetime Member of the CCA.  He can certainly look back with pride.  Now 80 years old Charlie has never forgotten his humble beginnings and is still a visionary, a man ahead of his time.

He has been a true leader in promoting the breed, supporting the CCA and in continuing to blaze the trail started by our Charolais pioneers so many years ago.  And each and every one of us are beneficiaries.

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Canadian Charolais Honor Roll Inductee

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Canadian Charolais Honor Roll Inductee

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Canadian Charolais Honor Roll Inductee