VCSWCD conducts annual award dinner

Vernon County Soil and Water Conservation District board member Jeff Greer presents Ed and Billie Hamersley with the 2009 Grassland Farmer of the Year Award. --photos by Rusty Murry/Daily Mail

The Vernon County Soil and Water Conservation District hosted 124 people for its 47th Annual Dinner on Friday, March 13, in the home economics building at the Vernon County fairgrounds.

Farmers and ranchers, their families and children from all over Vernon County gathered to enjoy a fried chicken dinner catered by Chicken Mary's, celebrate the third and fourth grade winners of the Soil Conservation Poster Contest, honor the recipients of the Conservation Farmer and Grassland Farmer Awards for 2009 and elect a new board member to replace outgoing member Jeff Greer.

After a welcome and introduction to the event by Board Chairman Fred Feldman, the microphone was turned over to NRCS district conservationist David Clyman. Following a brief history of the NRCS and the implementation of the service in Vernon County, Clyman explained what the service does for area farmers and ranchers and he encouraged anyone with special conservation needs to "come into the office for help." He went on to say that the passage of the farm bill and the budget means that "NRCS is ready to begin with the new farm bill programs." He wanted everyone there to know that the job of the NRCS is "to provide leadership and identify and address your resource needs."

Wade Rapp, treasurer of the Vernon County Soil and and Water Conservation District, presents Charles and Barbara Thompson with the 2009 Conservation Farmer Award.

After thanking sponsors for their contributions to the event and the board members for all of their efforts throughout the year, Clyman mentioned some other state and local resources and turned the floor over to NRCS district supervisor Mark Curtis who delivered a brief fiscal report and explanation of the funding behind the NRCS cost share program. He, too, thanked sponsors, poster judges, election judges, and Jeff Greer for his eight years of service.

Curtis introduced board Treasurer Wade Rapp who spoke without the aid of the microphone. Rapp began by saying that "soil is the most important resource we have here in the United States." He moved right into presenting the Conservation Farmer Award to Charles Thompson. Giving a brief description of the Thompson family and their farming operation, Rapp said that Thompson's "thousands of feet of terraces and all the acres of waterways" shows that he is a "strong believer in conservation."

Rapp introduced board member Jeff Greer to present the grassland Farmer of the Year award to Ed Hamersley. Greer also gave a brief run down of the Hamersley family and their cattle operation. He went on to say that Ed's extensive research in red angus sires has let him develop a "top notch herd of cattle." Greer said that "managing the grass is important," and "Ed has done a great job in grassland management." Mark Curtis returned to the microphone and gave the invocation and everyone lined up to eat.

Near the end of the meal, door prizes were given away. There were a lot of different things in the drawing, including the table decorations. The decorative cookies made to look like flowers were said to be delicious. Once the meal was finished and all the door prizes given away, Rocky Steiger, the district education/administrative clerk began the poster awards.

There were 306 entries in the contest and it made "the judges' job very difficult this year." said Steiger. There were 10 winners in each grade level and there was also an art award given to 4th grade student Patrick Ferry.

Third grade winners of the 2009 Vernon County Soil and Water Conservation District Poster Contest are kneeling left to right: first place, Mandy Crews; second place, Paxton Dahmer; third place, Madeline Garrett; fourth place Katherine Pruitt; and fifth place, Sara Garzee. Standing: sixth place, Lilly Quitno; seventh place, Sarah Creasy; eighth place, Shelby Trotter; ninth place, Anna Fulton; and 10th place, Kensi Hogan.

All of the winners received a sack which served as a meal coupon and had several other coupons in it that are redeemable at area businesses. After the awards there was a bit of time to visit as photos of the children were taken.

Fourth grade winners of the 2009 Vernon County Soil and Water Conservation District Poster Contest are left to right, kneeling: First place, Kendra Belcher; second place Hannah Lynne Bond; third place, Austin Forkner; fourth place, Patrick Ferry; fifth place, Rebecca Smith; sixth place, Andrew Dewey; seventh place, Mikayla Mohrmann; ninth place, Keagan Cauthon. Ninth and 10th place winners Chloe Bartlett and Myles McNeley are not pictured.

The election results were not announced, but it has since been learned that Kerry Fowler will replace Jeff Greer as a board member.