Virgil Holtgrewe does what he wants, comes and goes and he pleases. And he's getting an award for it.

Holtgrewe, 78, is getting a Friend of the National Western Award for decades of volunteering. He has been giving of his time at the event for 20 years. He helped form the crew of volunteers, 530 strong this year.

About 1988, when the National Western Stock Show expanded, Holtgrewe said he and a handful of others approached management, telling them, "With all the changes, people aren't going to know where to go." They suggested forming a volunteer contingent to usher visitors around the event.

You see them - most wear black and blue jackets - at information booths, taking tickets, giving tours.

Holtgrewe also has been involved in the Red Meat Club, which is composed of cattle ranchers and those of like mind who advocate agricultural interests. Club members sponsored him for the award for volunteering for about 40 years on their behalf.

Not surprisingly, Holtgrewe likes his beef, above all a tenderloin cut. But he chews sirloin, too. In fact, he also eats pork and fish.

Holtgrewe is a corn hustler from way back. He grew up on a farm in Nebraska. He walked the fields, hoeing the weeds to give his corn crop a chance to thrive without competition for water.

"Our farm was one of the first that was terraced," he said. "After we terraced it, I could see the soils eroding all over."

He wanted to save his family's land, so he studied soils at the University of Nebraska. He graduated, then headed off to the Army, which stationed him in Fort Lewis, Wash., during the Korean War.

When he got out, he needed a job. So he went back to Lincoln to talk to a professor who told him to apply for a job with Farmers National Co. in Omaha, which managed farms for absentee landlords.

At his peak, Holtgrewe managed almost 60 farms.

"I was in the field - driving, driving, driving," Holtgrewe said.

With his soils background, he was able to advise owners how to avoid land loss through erosion. He also had a knack for appraising farmland. In 1964, Farmers National sent Holtgrewe to Fort Morgan. He moved on to do the same work with Western Farm Management Co.

Holtgrewe has a smooth voice that sounds like he gargles with margarine, which is a big hit with the tour groups he guides as well as anyone else he meets.

He started at the National Western hosting an open house for visitors. Then he signed up to volunteer and worked at the International Center, which initially was housed in a trailer.

"He does all the little things no one else thinks about," said volunteer coordinator Kellie Lombardi.

For example, Holtgrewe persuaded Rotary Clubs to let him borrow flags from many nations to put up in the International Center.

It was a fellow Rotarian who called with the tip about Holtgrewe, saying he is first to shoot his hand up when a call for volunteers is made.

Holtgrewe wears a badge noting that he's a member of the Volunteer Advisory Group.

"I sit back and observe," he said. "When there's a problem, it has to go through channels."

And if it's an unusual problem, or something that makes other volunteers start scratching their heads, "that's where I come in."

Holtgrewe had back surgery three weeks ago, but he's back at the National Western, putting in his long hours.

"The doctor told me the best exercise is walking," he said. "And there's plenty of space out here."

massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271