CORTLAND, Ohio — The 59th Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District annual awards banquet was held at the Garden Brook Banquet Center in Cortland.
Warren McClintock of Fowler received the Bill Penn Memorial Award, which is the highest honor bestowed upon a citizen of Trumbull County for conservation.
The award is named after Bill Penn who was the District Conservationist from 1956 to 1981. Penn died shortly after his retirement, and the district board named the award after him in 1982.
Scott Hill received the district’s Conservationist of the Year award and Glenn Smith of Bazetta Township was honored with the Volunteer of the Year award for his efforts with the district at the county fair and Agriculture Center.
A Soil and Water Conservation District resolution was presented to Ruth Sharec of Newton Township for her late husband George for which the annual Conservation Farmer of the Year award will be named.
Double K Farms
The 2009 winners of the newly named George Sharec Memorial Conservation Farmer of the Year award was the Kirby family of Double K Farms.
The Soil and Water Conservation District awarded the Outstanding Conservation Contractor/Developer to Kurt Sheely of QBS Contracting for the Camp Ravenna barracks project.
Garrison Commander Lt. Col. William Meade and Environmental Supervisor Tim Morgan from the Camp Ravenna Joint Military Center were also recipients for the barracks construction efforts as the Conservation Project of the Year.
County Engineer DeChristofaro also provided his agency’s Award of Distinction for the project.
New award
The district also handed out a new annual award to a business which followed the Soil and Water Conservation District mission and goals as a Cooperator of the Year went to Eat N Park restaurant on Elm Road.
The Outstanding Conservation Educator of the Year went to Rachel Wilson of Badger Schools for all of her work and efforts in environmental education.
Daniel Montgomery of Newton Township was presented with his first place check for the Dairy Production Award from board member and Junior Fair Director Jan Solomon.
The district handed out the traveling plaque to the first place team from this year’s Junior High Envirothon winning team of TEACH Home School program under the direction of adviser Patty McFall.
The Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District conducted, with the Penn Ohio Watershed, a two state junior Envirothon-type of competition called ‘Watershed Challenge’ where Trumbull Educators Association of Christian Home Schoolers won third place out of 13 teams from both Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Volunteers
Keeping with the banquet theme Friends Of The Land, all of the 2009 volunteers were recognized. They included Jerrod Allision, Andy Balas, Sandy Balas, Amber Brink, Bill Crank, Linda Crank, Tracie Campbell, Jenna DePizzo, Pat Fuller, Jim Griffith, Riley Hardval, Daniel Havalo, Audrey Hudak, Beth Kane, Mike Keriotis, Joan Kovach, Mel Liddle, Molly Lymen, Laura Nagy, John O’Connell, Dan Parker, Steve Prebonick, Glenn Smith, Autumn Stowers, Ada Sutter, Courtney Thornton, Lauren Thornton, Sandy Van Cleve, Shirley Walters, Rita West, Jim Wilson, David Wynkoop, Larry Wynkoop and Gary Zuga.
Bob Coupland received the Soil and Water Conservation District Friend of the Land award from the staff for working with the district as a reporter/photographer with the Tribune Chronicle newspaper.
Pie baking contest
The banquet also included a pie baking contest in which Glenn Smith took first place with a pecan pie and received a plate from Etchings Unlimited located in Heritage Florist of Cortland.
The Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District is a political sub-division of the state of Ohio and provides leadership in promotion, enhancement and protection of the natural resources by providing conservation technical, educational and financial assistance to meet the needs of the people of Trumbull County.
