5-29-2003 |
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AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY HALL OF FAME ADDING MEMBERS The West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame Annual Enshrinement Banquet will be held Saturday, July 5, 2003, at Jackson’s Mill. A reception for new members will begin at the Hall of Fame Building at 5 p.m. The banquet will start at 6 p.m. at the Mt. Vernon Dining Hall. The Barbour County 4-H Team - 2003 national land judging champs and 2003 national home-site evaluation champs - will also be honored during the evening. Tickets are $20 per person, and can be purchased from the West Virginia Farm Bureau (472-2080, ext. 19), West Virginia Forestry Association (372-1955), West Virginia Cooperative Extension Service (293-5691), WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences (293-2395), WVU Extension Service (293-5691), West Virginia Division of Forestry (558-2788) and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (558-3200). Tickets must be purchased by June 25, 2003. Make checks payable to the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees are: David G. Lilly of Buckhannon – Lilly was born in Milton in 1947, graduated from West Virginia University in 1968, and spent his professional career working for the West Virginia Division of Forestry. Over the years, he has been a pioneer in forest fire suppression and prevention, collecting data still used today on fire damage, loss of growth and mortality. In 1975, Lilly administered the first-ever grants to volunteer fire departments throughout the state. In 1977, he was promoted to district forester for the central region of the state. In 1978, he was named “Forester of the Year” by the WV Wildlife Federation. In 1993, his peers elected him president of the WV Division of the Society of American Foresters. Jim C. Hamer of Kenova – A 1955 graduate of Ceredo-Kenova High School, and a 1959 Forestry graduate of SUNY at Syracuse, Hamer has spent his professional career managing successful lumber operations and promoting scientific timber management. Following a stint working in the family business, bought later by Jim Walter Corp., Hamer started his own wood products company. Since its inception in 1976, the Jim C. Hamer Co. has grown to an annual production level of 75 million board feet of lumber, plus wood pellet fuel production facilities, kilns and 350,000 acres of forestland under management. The company employs 370 at six locations around the state. Hamer has also supported several public education programs, including “Teachers for the Forest,” a nonprofit organization that has taken science-based messages about forestry to more than 3,000 teachers in West Virginia. He was selected as Timber Processing Magazine’s Man of the Year, won the National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Forest Stewardship Award for North America, and has won the WV Forestry Association’s Sawmill of the Year Award four times. Ralph P. Glover of Charleston - Glover, a native of Terra Alta, graduated from West Virginia University in 1962 with a degree in Forestry. He has spent the bulk of his professional career with the West Virginia Division of Forestry. In 1971, as an assistant district forester in southern West Virginia, he initiated the Forest Products Utilization Program and an annual Lumber Grading Short Course, helping state companies to maximize their efficiency. In 1979, he was named assistant state forester for forest fire control, then deputy state forester in 1985. He is a past president of the West Virginia Society of American Foresters and of the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters. He is past president and current treasurer of the WVU Division of Forestry Alumni Association and secretary/treasurer of the WVU Forestry Endowment Fund. He was chosen outstanding alumnus for the WVU Division of Forestry in 1994, and was “Lion of the Year” for the South Charleston Lions Club in 1991 and 1995. James E. "Jimmy" Johnson of Alderson - Johnson is a 32-year employee of the WVU Extension Service. During that time, he impacted approximately 10,000 Greenbrier County youth as the 4-H club agent. Noted by peers and former 4-H members for his innovation, leadership and dedication to all young people, he raised funds and spearheaded the development of an annual, week-long citizenship camp for welfare children. He organized the county’s first 4-H Ham, Bacon and Egg Show and Sale in 1950. Johnson served as the president of the WV Extension Workers Association in the early 1960s and as president of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents in 1971. He was inducted as a 4-H All-Star in 1960, and won the National Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents in 1969. In 1976, he was named as WVU’s “Outstanding Off-Campus Educator.” John L. Loyd of Philippi - After earning a Dairy Science degree from WVU, Loyd began his professional career as a Barbour County extension agent. He later added a master’s degree in extension education, and retired from the WVU Extension Service in 1993. He is also professor emeritus at WVU. In 1976, he helped to organize the Barbour County Fair, now enjoyed by tens of thousands annually. He also established a 4-H dairy heifer replacement program for Barbour County. Loyd has worked extensively with the West Virginia Association of Fairs and Festivals, including the development of an economic impact study of fairs and festivals throughout the state. His work with the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, encompassing thousands of events around the world, earned him the prestigious Hardee’s American Heritage Award. The WVU Extension Service presented him with the Distinguished Service Award in 1982, he was Barbour County Chamber of Commerce “Man of the Year” in 1996, and was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2000 by the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. A new entertainment center at the Barbour Fairgrounds was named in Loyd’s honor in 2000. James E. Ash of Alma - Raised on a family farm at Wilbur, Ash was a 1948 graduate of Tyler County High School. He received an associate’s degree in Agriculture from Potomac State College in 1951, then followed that with a BS and an MS in Agriculture and Agriculture Education from WVU in 1953 and 1963, respectively. From 1958-1989, he was an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor for the Tyler County Board of Education. During his tenure, he supervised student teachers and taught numerous state and national FFA Degree recipients and other award-winners. Following his retirement, he remained involved with FFA activities, the WVU Alumni Association and with fairs and festivals throughout the state, where he is frequently called upon to judge student agricultural contests. He currently sits on the West Virginia FFA Advisory Committee, the State Conservation Committee and the state Envirothon Committee. He is a former president of the Tyler County Fair Board. He has received the Distinguished Service Award from the West Virginia FFA Association, the VIP Award from the national FFA organization, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. |
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