Gall to Receive Uncle Elmer Award
Published: Friday, September 12, 2025
Andy Gall is one of the busiest folks you'll ever run into.
He calls the play-by-play for high school football games, is the assistant leader for the 4-H swine club, helps with the Fairfield FFA Alumni Assn., attends both the county and state fairs, volunteers his time to help the Indiana Milk Quality Professionals, and teaches FFA youths about Robert's Rules of Order.
Volunteering is second nature to Gall.
"It's just what we do," he said, adding that he and wife, Cheryl, try to help out whenever and wherever there's a need.
Gall, who lives in New Paris, will receive a prestigious award on Monday evening during the annual meeting of the Elkhart County Agricultural Society. He is this year's recipient of the Uncle Elmer award, presented to individuals who have gone above and beyond in serving or educating the public about agriculture.
The Uncle Elmer award is the second major award that Gall has earned. In 2018, he received the Steve Atkisson award, given by IMQP to an individual who has made a significant, positive impact on Indiana's dairy industry over a number of years.
"This would be right there at the top," he said, referring to the Uncle Elmer award. "This and the Atkisson award. That one was very humbling as well."
Gall retired from DFA, or Dairy Farmers of America, in 2022, after a 30-year career. Before that, he worked at the Burger Dairy plant in New Paris for 16 years.
His father ran a milk route for Burger Dairy, and Andy often hauled milk on weekends. Combined, he's been involved in the dairy industry for 48 years.
As production manager for Goshen's DFA plant, he traveled the country to speak at dairy conferences and help the company set up and run new processing facilities. He took Cheryl along on several trips.
Andy served on the IMQP board for 20 years, including seven years as president. Though he's retired from DFA, he still serves on the IMQP board.
Gall finds time to help with the Elkhart County 4-H and Fairfield FFA programs and call football games for Wawasee High School on elkhartcountysports.com, which he co-owns.
It all started in the mid-1990s, when he began serving as the public address announcer at football and basketball games at Fairfield High School. Around 2000, Gall was asked to do color commentary for football games on a local radio station, and then he transitioned into doing the play-by-play a few years later. In 2004, he and three partners purchased the rights to the Elkhart County Sports website, expanding Gall's reach even further. Calling the action for Fairfield and now, Wawasee, sports, Gall has traveled to dozens of high school gymnasiums and football fields across northern Indiana.
"I enjoy it a lot," he said. "I've always enjoyed promoting youth: 4-H, FFA, sports and music."
To say the least, he is not shy around crowds. He and Cheryl sing at weddings and funerals, and for many years Andy served as the choir director at his church. He also plays the trumpet. As a junior in high school, he served in the National FFA Chorus, representing Indiana, and sang at the 1974 National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.—in front of no-less-than the U.S. president, Gerald Ford.
Andy and Cheryl were 4-H swine club co-leaders for 17 years. Andy has stayed on as an assistant leader, with his primary job being as show announcer. He has been involved in a leadership role with the swine club for the past 37 years.
"I've still continued to do a lot of work with the FFA stuff," he said. "I help with coaching the parliamentary procedure team at Fairfield, and I've judged at the district, state and national level."
In addition to judging parliamentary procedure and prepared public speaking, he has also judged at the National Dairy Foods Judging Contest.
"I enjoy helping," he said. "That's been through my connections with dairy."
One more thing: he's a part-time farmer. Gall said few things give him more pleasure than revving up the tractor and mowing hay. That's his happy place.
Andy and Cheryl met while they were students at Fairfield. Andy was chapter vice president and Cheryl was the chapter sweetheart —an actual position at the time. Both were 4-H members; they shared their first date 50 years ago at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair.
Married in 1976, Andy and Cheryl have three adult sons, Brandon, Dana and Aaron, all of whom showed swine for 10 years in 4-H. They also have seven grandchildren who are involved in 4-H and sports. Every year, the grandchildren take livestock to the state fair, and Andy and Cheryl are there to support them.
Many couples are busy doing separate things, but the key to the Galls' nearly 50-year marriage is doing things together.
"We went to church together, we were involved in 4-H leadership together, and whenever he went to do ballgames, I would go along, especially when we had family playing," Cheryl said. "But most of the times, it was doing things together."
Those 4-H, sports and music activities fill the Galls' busy calendar, especially this time of year. On any given night, the couple can be found at a local sporting event—supporting one of their grandchildren.
"We see all of our grandchildren pretty much every week," Andy said. "We love that."
The Uncle Elmer award recognizes an individual who serves or educates the public about agriculture. When he graduated from high school, Gall said he considered becoming a music or ag teacher.
"I ended up not doing either one of those," he said, "but at the same time, I've done both."
Through his important role in the dairy industry and his volunteer spirit, Gall has earned the trust of those around him. That's opened many doors for mentoring others. In addition to his musical role at the church, Gall coaches Fairfield FFA members on how to run a meeting following Robert's Rules of Order.
"I've served as a judge in various capacities, and then I helped coach the parliamentary procedure team at Fairfield for quite a number of years," he said. "We've had some success. I really enjoy that because I feel like it's something that people need to learn."
Gall's mentors were his parents, especially his father, along with his former agriculture teacher, John Rogers. He said the Fairfield community has benefited from having great teachers over the years.
To that point, Gall said he credits all his professional success to what he learned while in 4-H and FFA.
While Andy and Cheryl might be busy, they have too many good memories to ever wish they had stayed home more often. They know what it's like to savor special moments together while traveling. They know what it's like to attend the state fair with like-minded families from their home county. They know what it's like to cheer for their grandchildren and appreciate the smile on their faces when they win. And they know what it's like to invest in young people.
"That's why we like to promote 4-H and FFA, because those are the things you remember," Andy said. "You don't always remember who won, but you always remember the experience you had and the fun you had and the people you got to know."
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