Pioneer Region - Columbiana, Portage, Stark and Summit County Farm Bureaus Telling the Story of Agriculture Each year, Farm Bureau members in Columbiana, Portage, Stark and Summit counties come together for a "4 County Leadership Day" to build camaraderie and get leaders involved. This year the group met at Loyola of the Lakes in Green from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. to hear from featured guest Brian "Fox" Ellis. An Ohio native, Ellis is a freelance writer and an internationally known storyteller and naturalist. Ellis mixes stories, songs and poetry to celebrate agriculture. "(Ellis) has helped us to learn about telling the story of agriculture instead of lecturing about its benefits," said Cherri Staley of Summit County. "Sharing a story about growing up on the farm and all the neat things you did and learned is a much better way to tell someone about agriculture." The morning session focused on story telling and sharing farming history with a partner. During the afternoon session, Ellis encouraged county leaders to take their love of farming and agriculture and put it in to words to create opinion-editorial pieces for publication. Organizer Pete Schanz of Summit County said he met Ellis during the national Ag in the Classroom conference where he was the featured speaker. "He is really motivational. I could listen to him speak about agriculture for hours," Schanz said. | |