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For Immediate Release
November 30, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio (OFBF) – The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) recently honored five Ohioans for their commitment to agriculture in the state.

The late U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Tiffin, Ohio Farm Service Agency Executive Director John Stevenson, Norman Bratton, Sr. of Delta and Rita Warner of Farmersville were each presented with OFBF’s Distinguished Service Award, while Barb Kuck of Huntsville was the recipient of OFBF’s Agricultural Educator Award. All five recipients were recognized during organization’s annual meeting Nov. 28 - 30 in Columbus.

Gillmor was in his 10th term as a member of Congress at the time of his passing, having represented Ohio’s Fifth Congressional District since 1989. He held many leadership roles while in the House including the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and vice president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He served as President of the Ohio Senate for three General Assemblies during his 22 years of state service. The Paul and Karen Gillmor family has been a member of Seneca County Farm Bureau since 1973 and farms with other members of the family in Seneca and Sandusky counties.

Stevenson, the executive director for Ohio’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), lives with his wife, Linda, on his fourth generation family farm in Pickaway County. The founder of the Ohio Corn Growers Association and former president of the National Corn Growers Association, Stevenson is a pioneer in conservation tillage and planning, and in the use of irrigation practices. He has served as Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s first agricultural specialist, chief of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industry Division and the in-state agriculture liaison for Sen. George Voinovich. In 1980 he built and operated Ohio’s first commercial ethanol plant.

A Fulton County Farm Bureau member since 1950, Bratton has served on the county board of trustees, and as county information coordinator and government affairs chairman. He and his wife, Jeanne, served as youth advisers for 20 years. Inducted into the Fulton County Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1990, Bratton was instrumental in grassroots work to establish new lighting laws for farm machinery and served on a county committee with Toledo Edison to establish a road and house numbering system that would make it easier for fire and rescue services to locate an address in emergency situations.

The daughter of farmers from Darke and Preble counties, Warner is no stranger to Farm Bureau. She has been a member of Montgomery County Farm Bureau Advisory Council since 1972, a member of the women’s committee and served as safety chairman and youth adviser for many years. Most notably, she has volunteered more than 30 years of service to Ohio Farm Bureau state youth camps. She is the current membership chairperson for the county board of trustees and serves as a branch support problem solver for Key Bank.

Kuck was raised one of eight children on a Logan County farm. She has been the education specialist for the county’s Soil and Water District for the past 15 years. She uses hands on experiences as a basis for teaching and believes it is important for students to learn outside in their environment. Kuck has written numerous grants that have brought education programs to every elementary school in Logan County. In her spare time, she gardens and bakes breads, pies and cookies, which she sells at a local farmer’s market. She has a desire to someday write a children’s book focusing on agriculture.

"Ohio Farm Bureau is pleased to recognize these five individuals for their passion and commitment. Their contributions to Ohio agriculture are admirable," said John C. (Jack) Fisher, executive vice president of OFBF.

CONTACT: Joe Cornely
PHONE: (614) 246-8230
E-MAIL: jcornely@ofbf.org