Well maybe not headline news but surely an honor-for me. I come from 10 generations of cattle ranching in Hawaii. This, many people know about me. How I ended up in Vermont is a long story with a circuitous trail. The family ranch, currently the 5th largest in the United States, was at one time the largest privately owned ranch in the country, with 250,000 acres and 50,000 head of Hereford cattle. Its history goes back to the late 1800's wherein an unfolding saga of Hawaiian kings and queens and a chieftain's daughter marrying a New Englander ensued and wrangling of hundreds of freely breeding cattle and horses to be tamed-to chronicle but a bit of its story. (for more info www.parkerranch.com)
And the working Paniolos. This word, paniolo, word historians do agree is a 'corruption' of the word 'español' whom the Hawaiians were trying to describe when speaking about the Vaqueros, or Spanish cowboys, that came to the islands to manage the wild cattle.
Vaqueros, were those master cattle wranglers who cruised thru Texas on to California and thru Mexico centuries ago. Well some settled on our ranch and became the very fabric that made things happen. And this is a generation before there ever was an American cowboy. Now, now. Texans please do not contact me for libelous content. Look it up. It's on record. Anyway, back to my honor.
This year was named the Year of the Paniolo and marks the centennial wherein a renowned Paniolo, Ikua Purdy, "shocked the Western world with his unprecedented win" in Wyoming competing against the best cowboys of the time (Paniolo Preservation Society). So in August of this year they held lots of celebration at the ranch with rodeos, trail rides, luaus, Old Hawaii (a parade in period dress on horseback) to commemorate a moment in time hopefully not forgotten.
We released a new cheese we called 'Paniolo' in Aug of 2007. And it was fine time to donate some to this event. After several snafus with DHL shipping (!!) it arrived in ok condition and was served at a fundraising event. To my surprise and honor, a bidding war ensued and in the end someone won a small wheel of cheese for several hundred dollars! And to boot, the real honor was working Paniolos in attendance ate my cheese and loved it. Talk about history. What a circuitous route.
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