One hundred eighty-seven attend 76th Annual SWCD Meeting and Banquet

| October 19, 2018

COSHOCTON – The Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District held their 76th Annual Banquet at Lake Park Pavilion Thursday evening, Oct. 18. One hundred eighty-seven area residents and special guests were in attendance. A buffet dinner was served by Shrimplin’s Catering preceding the meeting.

The Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission held an election for one supervisor elected to the Coshocton SWCD Board of Supervisors. Beth Mullen was re-elected and will serve a three-year term starting Jan. 1, 2019.  Rick Haines was also a candidate for the position.

David Daniels, Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture was the evening’s guest speaker. Daniels talked about the history of the family farm and the adaptability of today’s farmer.

“Your local soil and water is out on the line – they know what’s going on on the farm,” he said “We can look at our consumers and tell them that our producers are doing a great job.”

He also presented a Bicentennial Farm certificate to Phyllis (Pew) and Lee Debnar recognizing their family farm of 200 years.

Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District announced the 2018 Outstanding Conservation Farmer of the Year Award which went to Derr Farm, Inc. The Derr farm is located in Linton Township and consists of 580 acres where they currently milk 300 cows in their expanded dairy facility. The Derr family has been a cooperator of the Coshocton SWCD since July 1, 1975.  Conservation practices installed on the Derr farm include a multi-stage manure storage and sand lane, a milk house waste irrigation system, ag chemical facility, diversion, pipeline, settling basin, fencing, and a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan. The Derr family has hosted a stop on the 1990, 2003, and 2013 Fall Foliage & Farm Tour, hosted the 2016 Coshocton County Leadership Class, and the 2018 Officials Tour.

Derr Farms, Inc. consists of Garry and Teresea Derr, Kenny Derr, Perry Derr, and Tristan Locke.  Congratulations to the Derr family on being named the 2018 Outstanding Conservation Farm of the Year.

Coshocton SWCD sponsored the Coshocton County Junior Fair Hay Show and recognized the winners at the 2018 County Fair: Ryan Greten, son of Mike and Kerrie Greten, River View FFA won the Heavy and Light Mixed Hay classes and Lindsay Moran, daughter of Chad and Sabrina Moran, River View FFA, won the Grass Hay class. Winners received a rosette and $25 cash award for each class.

Jerry Haywood was recognized as the winner of the Coshocton SWCD’s Big Tree Contest. The winning “Big Tree” was a maple tree which measured 219 inches in circumference with a vertical height of 91.5 feet and an average crown spread of 118 feet.

Tom Heading from Coshocton is Blooming Committee presented the seventh annual City Big Tree Contest award for anyone living in the City of Coshocton. Wendy Yocum was recognized for her maple tree that measured 162.5 inches in circumference with a vertical height of 86 feet and average crown spread of 58 feet.

The winner of the Mystery Photo Contest, which was part of the SWCD’s display at the Coshocton County Fair, was Anne Larr. Larr was among 23 correct entries received. The mystery photo was of the Anderson Brothers farm in Pike Township.

A special award was presented to Chuck Reynolds, District Conservationist for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service who plans to retire at the end of the year. Board and staff presented Reynolds with a mantel clock for his service to Coshocton County landowners.

The meeting adjourned after door prizes were drawn.

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About the Author ()

I live with my beautiful wife Nancy on a small farm just outside Coshocton. We have been married for thirty two years and have two grown children, Jessica and Jacob. Jessica is married to Aaron Mencer and they are employed with Coshocton City Schools. Jacob is a sophomore at Kent State University. I graduated from River View High School, have a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Wesleyan University and am actively involved with the Roscoe United Methodist Church, serve on several local committees and am a member of the Coshocton Kiwanis Club, having served as Past-President. I love reading, especially military thrillers, the Civil War and history in general. My goal is to write a novel. My wife and I are also AdvoCare distributors and encourage anyone wanting to lose weight, gain energy and better health to explore AdvoCare at our website; www.fortunes4advocare.com. I love the media field, innovative technology and have worked in newspapers for over 30 years – in fact, my first job was delivering newspapers. The Beacon is a dream made possible by the support of this community and a great team. I hope to continue serving Coshocton County for many years.

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