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We would like to thank everyone who shared their stories with us.

Alex Baum reads a letter of support from someone directly affected by the BSE crisis.
Alex Baum reads a letter of support from someone directly affected by the BSE crisis to the crowd at the Concert in the Meadows.


Alex and Dan Announce at the second annual Beef Eating contest in Cochrane that the Petition will be taken to Ottawa.

PLEASE NOTE: Dan Kroffat and Alex Baum had a successful trip to Ottawa. They presented over 114,000 signatures to Myron Thompson, MP and other officials on October 14, 2004.
Many came to Celebrate and Support Alberta Beef at the 2nd Annual Beef Eating Contest in Cochrane, Alberta...in the Heart of Ranch Country!

Dan Kroffat raises awareness and urges support around finding a solution to the BSE crisis.

Dan Kroffat, captured on the Concert in the Meadows
Big Screen, urges for support around finding
a solution to the BSE crisis.

Open the Border Celebration
September 5th 2005

Premier Ralph Klein holds up the OpentheBorder.com<br> sign at the Concert in the Meadows event.
Premier Ralph Klein will be celebrating in Cochrane this Sept. 5th


Come celebrate with us on Labor Day in Cochrane!
September 5th at Noon in Cochrane we are having an "Open the Border National Celebration" at Cochrane Dodge.

Premier Ralph Klein will join us in celebrating with the community and honored guests. This is truly an Occasion to Celebrate!


Read our latest news release regarding the Celebration:
Celebration Press Release, Aug. 05 (68Kb PDF)
Celebration Event Schedule (83Kb PDF)


Excerpt from Cochrane Eagle Article Klein to join, Aug. 3, 2005 -
By Shawn Logan

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein will headline a celebration planned in Cochrane on Labour Day to mark last month’s opening of the United States border to live Canadian beef exports. Cochrane Dodge owner Alex Baum said his annual Labour Day (Sept. 5) beef eating contest will take on extra meaning this year as it will toast the opening of the border that had been closed to Canadian beef since May 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in an Alberta cow. “Everything is lining up for this to be a great celebration,” Baum said. “We have confirmation the premier is going to join. This is a big thing for him.”



ALEX BAUM AND DAN KROFFAT TOOK OVER 114,000 signatures from our online and hard copy forms to Ottawa to present to members of Parliament, October 14th, 2004.

The final tally for the petition rests at over 150,000!


Dan Kroffat(left), Conservative Wild Rose MP Myron Thompson(center) and Alex Baum(right) in Ottawa. Baum and Kroffat met with Thompson and Nova Scotia Senator Terry Mercer, who accepted the petition on behalf of the Senate.

This website petition was part of a "grass roots" initiative started in Cochrane, Alberta to raise awareness over the plight of Beef Ranchers across Canada. Please read below for links regarding the Ottawa presentation of the petition by Dan Kroffat and Alex Baum.
    a "grass roots" initiative started in Cochrane, Alberta to raise awareness over the plight of Beef Ranchers across Canada.
  • Canadians for the most part feel helpless in the plight of our Cattle Ranchers and this will be one way that we can say "We Care"
  • We are too late for some Ranchers because some have lost everything but maybe we can make a difference for the existing Ranching Community.
  • Ranching is one of the oldest industries in Canada and we are losing an industry that we own!

Tom Jackson speaks at the Concert in the Meadows.
Tom Jackson speaks at the
Concert in the Meadows.

Cochrane Times,
August 03, 2005:
The party is back on at Cochrane Dodge for Sept. 5 -- Labour Day Monday, with Baum and former pro wrestler Dan Kroffat, co-founders of the wildly successful opentheborder.com petition, organizing the big bash.
In March, with the injunction awarded to R-CALF and Canadian ranchers once again hoofed out of the U.S. marketplace, a disappointed Baum cancelled the celebration, saying, “We want to celebrate when we have cause to celebrate.”
Well, the cause has finally arrived, with a U.S. federal appeals court sending the R-CALF injunction out to pasture and Canadian cattle once again stampeding south of the border.
Baum said invitations have been extended to both Premier Ralph Klein and Prime Minister Paul Martin for the delayed celebration.
“We want to have Ralph here to celebrate with us,” he said.





More from the 2ndAnnual Beef Eating Contest...

Beef Eating Contestants
National News Coverage of the Contest and the Petition Announcement
The Final Contest

 
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