Jerry and Scott Cronkhite, St. Joe County Conservation Farmers of the Year. The Cronkhites are a father and son team who have participated in Conservation District programs for many years in an effort to conserve resources on their fields in both St. Joe and Branch Counties. As part of their commitment to sustainable fertility and responsible stewardship of the land, the Cronkhites have converted much of their acreage to organic production, and in addition to organic corn, produce tofu beans and black beans for the organic market. In recognition of their history as District cooperators and their innovative approach to production and marketing, we are pleased to make this award to Jerry and Scott.
Jerry and Jan Warstler, St. Joe County Conservation Volunteers of the Year, have volunteered with the District since 2004 at the grand opening of Michigan’s first Heritage Water Trail system here in St. Joe County. They helped dispense food and offered transportation to tired and hungry paddlers. In the past year alone, Jan and Jerry have been behind the scenes at nearly every major District event to lend a helping hand. From bundling trees at our annual Earth Day tree sale and preparing materials for the fifth grade conservation field day, to taming the rampant growth of weeds at the Sturgis Kiwanis Community Garden, Jan & Jerry are two extraordinary volunteers!
While the St. Joe County Conservation District Board of Directors honored our Conservationists of the Year at our Annual Meeting, there are really a lot of special folks who have contributed time, hard labor, and good spirits to our work at the Conservation District this past year. Without these fine folks, the Conservation District would surely not have accomplished so much. With our debt of gratitude and total appreciation, we thank the following people for playing such a vitally important roll in our programs:
Doug Bell – for tilling the Sturgis Kiwanis Community Garden and lending his time and equipment to other projects
Harry Bates and Newell Franks – for managing the Sturgis Kiwanis Garden
Richard Hostetler, Elva Miller, Neal Yoder, John Bontrager and sons, Virgil Yoder, and Emmanuel Yoder – for lending extra time and equipment to the MILLFARM project
Brad Neumann, MSU Extension – for planning and program assistance on a host of projects
Sarah Stewart – for support and guidance with the Mendon Farmer’s Market and MILLFARM
Geff and Cheryl Clark of the Mendon Country Inn – for feeding, advising, and supporting District staff and programs
Tom Condon and the Centreville CTE Ag & Natural Resources classes – for help in preparing trees for the spring tree sale
The Sheriffs Department and Jail Trustees – for the labor to rebuild the Null Road-Rocky River access
Nancy Pick, County Community Service Supervisor – for providing community service volunteers to a wide range of our activities
Clarissa Myers, Manager of the Scidmore Park Zoo, and Three Rivers DPS – for their help and support in completing the zoo and park renovations
Jeff Pant of Fawn River Kayaks – for leading the effort to keep our rivers clean and safe
Michigan Works/Y.O.U. employees Whitney Reese and Carol McClain - for keeping our office running smoothly all summer
State Senator Cameron Brown and State Representative Matt Lori – for meeting with us and working on behalf of our small farmers and rural economic development efforts through the Cottage Food Industry Bill.
Again, with much appreciation, the St. Joe County Conservation District thanks its volunteers and contributors. If your name has been left off this list, we truly do apologize: we did not mean any offense.
Thank you to everyone who makes conserving our natural resources a priority
in their daily lives and most especially thanks to our awardees
who exemplify good habits all of us can follow!