It is time for the 2024 Election! Most of our board members’ terms expire this year, but all have declared their interest in continuing to serve. We strongly encourage all our members to vote. Members will receive information about the electronic election by email from ElectionBuddy on Nov 29, 2024. Be sure to check your spam folder!
Vote for up to five (5) candidates. The election closes at 11:59pm Eastern time on December 3. Our candidates are listed below in alphabetical order.
Crystal Criswell, Ohio
Hello fellow shepherds and shepherdesses! I grew up on a small farm in Kansas where my family raised hogs and poultry. My husband, Chris, and I have two adult sons. We moved to our southern Appalachian Ohio farm in 2018. I started with three ewes that year, joined SCHSB in 2019, and now have thirty-five (35) ewes at Melwood Farm. We use regenerative grazing and work hard to produce lambs that perform well on grass-based operations.
I love talking sheep to fellow St. Croix enthusiasts on social media, by phone, and in person. I’ve hosted several workshops to teach others about the benefits and care of St Croix sheep. I’ve been awarded grants from the Livestock Conservancy, the For Farmers Movement, Accelerating Appalachia, and the Climate Smart Commodities Project to support my work with the sheep and my grazing operation.
I am a strong advocate for focusing on the performance of our sheep. To that end, I have been participating in the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) since 2022 and use estimated breeding values (EBVs) as part of my selection and breeding program. My sheep are either good or they are delicious.
I have been a Director since January 2022, and served as Treasurer since 2023. As we developed a new website, searched for, and contracted with a new registrar, I was in the trenches. I submitted samples from several of my sheep for the genetics project and look forward to its continued development. If elected, I will continue to support the members and the mission of SCHSB.
Lori Marion, Oregon
Hi, I’m Lori Marion, and together with my husband Bill, I have raised St Croix sheep since 2015. Our ranch is land that has been used for sheep since the late 1800’s. We have 48 breeding ewes, several rams, and a small, unrelated ram flock. We stress careful selection of breeding animals that will maintain the unique qualities of St Croix sheep.
St Croix sheep have proven an ideal fit for our high desert environment in eastern Oregon, as adaptable here as they have been in warmer, wetter environments.
The breed does great with varied livestock roles, from traditional table lamb production to vegetation control for fire-risk reduction or solar farms. I see the St Croix breed as one that has a place in the sheep world as a resilient, adaptable and low management-input breed.
I have been a director since 2019, and have strived to keep the St Croix Hair Sheep Breeders an association that is responsive and transparent to its members. I have had an active role in the St Croix genetic identity project, in the transition to the new registry as GLM retired, and in various aspects of St Croix promotion and advertising. I’d like the opportunity to continue to encourage the growth of the breed and to encourage new and experienced St Croix producers.
I would be honored to continue to serve the members of SCHSB for another term and I would appreciate your vote as a director.
Tara Seltz, Minnesota
My name is Tara Seltz. My husband, Marty, and I have been raising St. Croix sheep since 2018. We maintain 20-25 breeding ewes and 5 rams with the goal of providing quality lamb products to consumers while improving the soil health of our land.
I thoroughly enjoy learning about every aspect of St. Croix sheep from their history (as far back as I can reach) to the intricacies of their unique maternal, immune, and genetic functions to bring our sheep to higher performance levels.
I was appointed to the SCHSB Board as an interim director in July 2024 to manage the Genetics Project, and I hope to continue in this effort. I look forward to learning more about you so that I can celebrate your joys, support you through your challenges, and encourage you towards a more successful flock.
Jason Webster, Indiana
Hey everyone! I’ve been farming my whole life and started raising St Croix sheep fourteen years ago. My wife, Jess, and I have run a food stand where we serve our own grass-fed product and promote eating lamb as much as we can. Currently, we have eighty breeding ewes and two rams.
We are very involved with our local sheep association and have started a solar grazing and forage program with a local company. We are looking forward to exploring some of the new developments with St Croix sheep genetics such as the NSIP program. I really enjoy St. Croix and look forward to this breed’s future!
Being on the Board and serving as President since 2022 has been a great experience for me, and I would appreciate your vote.
Amy Wheeler, Oregon
Hello, my name is Amy Wheeler. I’m 49, a mom, caregiver, and I manage Hollow Hills Ranch. I reside in the Northwest of Oregon, halfway between Portland and Salem, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Sheep Experience: Our family has raised sheep since the late 1930’s when they purchased this farm. We have raised St Croix hair sheep specifically since our first ram, Charlie, in 2000. We bought him at the Woodburn Livestock Exchange, from Jo Van Hoy in Rufus, WA, as a novelty to cross with our Suffolk and North Country Cheviot ewes. We also utilized St Croix in crosses of Romanov, CA Red, Dorper, Katahdin, Barbados, and Black Hawaiian. What we soon discovered is the lack of wool on their underside and crutching was a thing of the past and the fun colors we could get!
As time went on we purchased more St Croix from Churchill’s, Swan’s, and Lisa Grimes. When we first started out, we didn’t realize that color could, and would, show up in the St Croix sheep from time to time. We kept many, and even went out of our way to buy these, even though they couldn’t be registered back then. It was a few more years before colored St Croix were seen as valuable and registerable in an organization. Thankfully they are now! In fact we have a few ewes that have beautiful black/white color patterns in our registered flock now! We currently raise a registered flock of St Croix alongside registered and recorded/crossbred flocks of Katahdins.
Nonprofit Experience: I have been involved in several other non-profit groups. The biggest of these were the Parent Cultivation Team at Molalla River Academy, the Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo Association, and I am on the St Croix Hair Sheep Breeders Board of Directors currently. I spent the last 3 years as the Chairperson of the Parent Cultivation Team (similar to Boosters or PTA) at my daughter’s small public charter school until she graduated back in June 2024. I handled running all the meetings, delegating activities to the other directors, handling personnel issues, and so much more!
I was a member of the Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo Association in the early 2000’s; was on the Board of Directors for 6 years, worked in the ticket office, maintained their social media presence as well as their website, and was involved in the drafting of the by-laws. I “retired” from the Association a little over 10 years ago, as my young daughter needed more of my time around the 4th of July as many parents probably understand!
Other Experience: I retired as a Licensed Massage Therapist after nearly 11 years of doing it in March 2020. I dearly miss it, but have plenty to keep me busy! I caregive for my mom full time while I run the “ranch” AND my teen daughter is in band in Highschool so I spend a lot of time taking her to games and to her friend’s houses. I do enjoy designing my website, as well as maintaining a few Facebook business pages and I admin my fair share of groups on Facebook too. Thank you for your consideration for the Board of Directors!
