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President's Award Winners
The
President's Award is given to members who
have demonstrated continuous support for
ALSA's mission and the llama/alpaca
community as a whole. Awardees are
determined by the ALSA president and receive
a lifetime membership to ALSA.
2019
- Tom & Doris Schlemmer
Tom and Doris Schlemmer can
easily be called icons of the llama world.
Schlemmer's Critter Haven Farm, in Huntertown,
Indiana is a 95 acre farm that is home to not
only llamas, but also horses, emu, sheep,
peafowl, waterfowl, chickens, dogs, and cats.
The Schlemmer's first experience
with llamas was over 55 years ago while
vacationing in Florida. They knew instantly that
llamas were perfect for them. It was nearly 25
years later that llamas began to appear in
Indiana. Tom and Doris purchased their first
pair in the summer of 1986. Since that time,
their love for llamas expanded, as well as their
herd size. At one time the farm was home to up
to 89 llamas.
Tom and Doris have had a
tremendous impact on their community while also
sharing the joy of llamas with others. Doris was
a 4H leader for the Allen County Llama Lovers
for 26 years. They enjoyed hauling their llamas
and 4H kids to local parades and nursing home
visits. Throughout the years, the Schlemmer's
have traveled the country attending llama shows.
They have always had a team of 4H kids and their
families following along. Tom and Doris have
certainly been responsible for helping to create
the future of the llama world by sharing their
llamas with so many youth over the years.
Schlemmer's Critter Haven Farm
has numerous achievements in the show ring.
In their years of showing, they have
accumulated 13 ALSA Champions. They also have
had 4 ALSA National Champion llamas, including
the first ever Advanced Performance Champion
(first show held in 1998) and first ever Master
Performance Champion (show held in 2009). Many
of these llamas have gone on to achieve multiple
national titles to their name. A legacy to the
performance ring is SCHF Fancy Doublestar, who
has 31 Advanced performance grand champions, 13
reserves, and has earned 988 ALSA performance
points in her lifetime.
For so many years, Tom and Doris
could be seen at each and every ALSA Nationals
show. They took charge of the awards operation
for 13 years. Doris made sure that all awards
were organized. She even took the time to gently
iron every ribbon, making sure the award looked
perfect for the handler and llama who worked so
hard to earn it. Their donated time, persistent
generosity, and dependability was inimitable.
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