After a couple years hiatus, okPORK’s Swine and Stein dinner came back with a roar. Sean Cummings Irish Restaurant was the perfect venue for the group that gathered on August 12.

Chef Chris Bickel prepared four amazing courses featuring pork and the evening’s theme was Mexican. The first course featured puffed chicharrons with a salsa trio featuring guacamole, salsa fresca and salsa verde. These puffed and fried pork skins were far better than convenience store pork rinds and each salsa option was full of flavor.

okPORK is pleased to introduce four new board members. They were elected to the board at Oklahoma Pork Congress on June 29. We are excited to have them on the board and hope you’ll say “howdy” to them when you see them at the next okPORK event. 

Karen Hiltbrand’s time as the okPORK summer intern is drawing to a close. We’ve loved working with Karen and are excited to see all the big things her future holds. Karen wrote a recap of her summer okPORK adventure so read more to find out about her internship.

okPORK took a new approach to the finale of Oklahoma Pork Congress this year. We decided to honor our award winners at lunch and then make the evening all about fun and food. Thus, Viva Las Bacon was born. Read on to find out how our first casino night went,

Youth Leadership Camp is one of okPORK’s biggest events of the year. Read on to find out how #YLC2018 went, what the 12 students saw and learned and what they had to say about their experience.

Every year okPORK members from across the state travel to Norman to be a part of the Oklahoma Pork Congress. After rescheduling the event from February to June, swine producers and okPORK members still managed to make the trip for a fun day of in meetings, meals, learning and sharing along with a new, fun-filled casino night.

During the work on last year’s warthog bill, it became clear to okPORK that Senator Eddie Fields would be a perfect recipient for the 2018 Outstanding Legislator Award. 

“It was great to work with the Oklahoma Pork Council,” Senator Fields said. “We established a great working relationship during the warthog bill and made sure they were not going to be imported into the state,”

Darren Wheeler, a long-time pork supporter and owner of Wheeler Meat Market in Oklahoma City, Okla., has been selected to receive the 2018 Ambassador Award for his extensive service with okPORK. 

Wheeler said the meat business has and always will be a family affair.

The first okPORK Excellence Award winners were honored at Oklahoma Pork Congress on June 29, 2018. Robert Teel with Prestage Farms, Juan Ovalle, Sr., with Smithfield, and Sam DeHaas with The Maschhoffs were the inaugural recipients of this award. Read more about these outstanding Oklahoma pig farmers.

For the past 12 years, the Oklahoma Pork Council and the Oklahoma Blood Institute have teamed up for the annual Memorial Day Blood Drive held during the last week of May. This year’s event included the theme “Give Local” where 1,299 donors were accounted for at the OBI buildings and busses around the state. A total of 3,897 lives were saved.