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What's Happening in Champaign County?

WL-S student honored with first Andy Detwiler Memorial official FFA jacket

1/25/2023

 
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Cindy Oelker, owner of Liberty Gathering Place, and her son Shane Oelker, West Liberty Chief of Police, presented West Liberty-Salem FFA member Christopher Herron with the first Andy Detwiler Memorial official FFA jacket on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Submitted by West Luberty-Salem Local Schools

Cindy Oelker, owner of Liberty Gathering Place, and her son Shane Oelker, West Liberty Chief of Police, presented West Liberty-Salem FFA member Christopher Herron with the first Andy Detwiler Memorial official FFA jacket on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Andy Detwiler lost passed away on September 21, 2022, but his legacy and influence on the agricultural community undoubtedly lives on. 
 Andy was a lifelong farmer, creator of his YouTube channel Harmless Farmer, and motivational speaker sharing his message to “Never Give Up”. Andy was an active member of the Champaign County Fair Board, which spoke to his passion for youth in agriculture and inspired Cindy and Shane to continue his legacy with FFA. The Oelker’s were joined by Andy’s wife Corkey Detwiler and their daughter Kylie Detwiler. Andy, Corkey and Kylie were all four-year members of the West Liberty-Salem chapter of FFA. Shane and Cindy look forward to continuing to share Andy’s story and a jacket with our young ag students for many years to come.
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A.B. Graham-The start of 4-H

11/3/2022

 
It’s harvest time around the area. For those of us who have grown up in this community, seeing combines on the road this time of year is a normal occurrence. Another common occurrence in many households is participating in 4-H.  What some may not know, is the 4-H program was started by a man born here in Champaign County.

​Born in 1868, A.B. Graham was raised in a small rural farm until it was destroyed by fire. The family moved right over the county line to Lena, Ohio where Graham graduated before receiving his teaching certificate.  Graham began his teaching career in 1868 back in Champaign County, with a particular enthusiasm for teaching young people about agriculture. On January 1902 Graham held the first meeting of the boys and girls club in Springfield. These meetings were the precursor to what is now the 4-H program. In 1905, Graham became the first superintendent of agriculture extension at the Ohio State University. His work with the agriculture extension in Ohio and beyond were instrumental in helping to make the 4-H club nationally recognized.  Today the 4-H club has over 6 million members.  Thanks to A.B Graham, students have an opportunity to learn about not only agriculture but also a variety of other valuable skills. We are thankful for the lasting legacy A.B Graham has left on our entire community. 
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Fish & Shrimp Festival throughout Sept

9/11/2022

 
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 It's hard to believe the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival will be celebrating their 20th anniversary. The festival has grown with each passing year. I’m sure this year will be the biggest one yet. Admission is $5.00 for adults and $2.00 children 12 and under. 
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The format may have changed but the fun will not. With live music and fresh seafood to eat, you will want to check it out each day.

Freshwater Farms of Ohio is the largest indoor fish hatchery in the state of Ohio. Dr. Dave Smith and his team love to have people come to their farm to see what they all do. Dave also plays a vital role within Champaign County as an investor in our community. Make sure you take the time to check out Freshwater Farms of Ohio and the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival.
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Woodruff Farm Looking to Expand Their Market

3/9/2022

 
Woodruff Farm, Farm Connection
The Woodruff Farm is looking to add more products to their market.

The Woodruff Farm is a close-knit family business. Honesty, loyalty, simplicity, genuineness, and authenticity are their top priorities. Their passion has been passed down for four generations.
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Their goal is high quality products raised by the Woodruff’s or hard working farm families that they consider as business partners and friends.

Give The Woodruff Farm a call at 937-508-2276 or send an email to info@woodrufffarm.com.

McGuire and Ward to Compete in District FFA Contest

1/27/2022

 
Owen McGuire and Max Ward standing in front of a large tractor
Owen McGuire and Max Ward of the A.B. Graham Ohio Hi-Point HS FFA competed in and won the Champaign County Agricultural and Industrial Diagnostics CDE on January 26th at Farmers Equipment.
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In a few weeks, McGuire and Ward will be competing at the District contest at the John Deere Training Facility. The mechanics at Farmers Equipment hosted the contest for ten teams and worked with these two young men.

Local 4-H Extension Educator Recognized Nationally

12/22/2021

 
Headshot of Melinda Ryan
Melinda Ryan, 4-H Extension Educator of Champaign County.
Champaign County 4-H Extension Educator, Melinda Ryan, was recently recognized by the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals in Memphis, Tennessee at their national conference.

Ryan has grown up in Champaign County with beef, sheep, and swine projects. She was an active Camp Counselor, Junior Leadership member, and took on national 4-H events.
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Her contributions to the 4-H youth development profession led her to receive the National Distinguished Service Award.

“Ohio 4-H professionals are incredibly talented and work hard to provide outstanding programs for youth. We are proud their efforts are recognized nationally.” stated Dr. Kirk Bloir, State 4-H Leader and Assistant Director of Ohio State University Extension.

Ryan has been the 4-H Extension Educator in Champaign County for 18 years. She serves on the state-wide Workforce Development Team, Animal Science Team, and is Treasurer of the Ohio Extension Professionals. She has taught at several state and national conferences and chaperoned multiple Ohio youth on national trips.

Champaign County has 66 county 4-H clubs with 1,764 youth participants and 208 volunteers.

Students Stage Cardboard City

11/11/2021

 
Urbana High School project
Pictured: Kylee Wilson, Kassi Stid and Evan Fowler building their cardboard shelter. Submitted photo.
From Urbana Daily Citizen

The Urbana FFA Chapter sponsored their annual Cardboard City at Urbana High School. Thirty-seven Urbana High School students slept in cardboard boxes on Friday, November 5. The event took place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The students created a temporary cardboard home inside the gates of the football stadium to experience what it would be like to be homeless. Students also researched statistics on homelessness and learned about local shelters that provide shelter.
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Each student paid $5 to attend the event as a way to raise money and awareness for the homeless; $185 and some food supplies were collected. All proceeds were donated to The Caring Kitchen. The event opens up students’ eyes to how cold and uncomfortable being homeless is and students take the time to consider how fortunate they are. Realizing that the homeless have to deal with it every night rather than just one night.

We would like to thank our advisor chaperones, Christy Wilhelm for making chicken noodle soup, Joe Jackson for donating pizza, and all the students who participated. It was a great experience and we look forward to doing it again in the future.

UHS FFA Leads to Career Success

11/10/2021

 

UHS grad started life goals early

Urbana FFA Justin Preece
During Preece’s senior year, he took on a project of restoring a 1951 Farmall H that was donated to the chapter by a former Urbana Ag teacher. Submitted photos.
Justin Preece UHSPreece was awarded the Champaign County FFA boy of the year award at the 2021 fair. Submitted photos.

From Urbana Daily Citzen

A solid Future Farmers of America background has led to early life success for a local graduate.

Justin Preece, a 2020 Urbana High School graduate, participated in the Urbana FFA program for five years. He joined in the 8th grade when Urbana had a middle school program. Over the years, Preece has been active with FFA and in the community, accomplishing many difficult tasks.

The commitment to learning has paid off with a career and national recognition.
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Preece won the state proficiency area of Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance Job Placement in a recent competition. His application then advanced on to national and he was named to the final 4. He then went through an interview process for the judges to select a national winner. Preece was announced on stage with the other finalists on Thursday, October 28.
“As a part of the Ag program, students are required to have a supervised agricultural experience. Justin chose to get a job as his project and started working at Farmer’s Equipment in Urbana his freshman year,” said FFA Advisor Mallory Zachrich. “He started as a basic helper doing simple tasks like cleaning, taking out trash, sweeping floors. From there he flourished with his passion for equipment and mechanics. Justin observed veteran mechanics, took on small tasks, gained experience and trust and took on more and more responsibilities.”

After graduation, Preece attended the Hobart Institute of Welding on several scholarships and earned his welding certifications in 10 months.
Preece explained the steps to success in a recent interview.

“My SAE (supervised agricultural experience) project is working at Farmers Equipment in Urbana,” Preece told Brownfield Ag News for America. “I started working there as a freshman in high school. Over the years I got more and more tasks. It grew from me cleaning, to me assembling new augers and working on new combines. After graduating, I got a full-time position at Farmers Equipment. Now I am the lead technician for our Kubota line. As it goes on, I have learned more and more.”

Preece said his grandfather’s John Deere 3020 sparked his interest as a young child.

“Being around that atmosphere, I always wanted to stick to it. It is what I grew up around,” he said.

According to Zachrich, Preece was extremely active in the FFA chapter at Urbana. He participated in numerous career development competitions, attended several leadership conferences and conventions, served on planning committees, served as an officer and finished out his senior year as the chapter president.

Preece participated in the calf scramble at the Champaign County Fair and showed his calf in 2019.

During Preece’s senior year, he took on a project of restoring a 1951 Farmall H that was donated to the chapter by a former Urbana Ag teacher.

“His hard work has provided the chapter with a beautiful tractor to use at events like Farm Day to give elementary students hay rides and at the annual homecoming parade,” said Zachrich.

Preece was awarded the Champaign County FFA boy of the year award at the 2021 fair.

Pond Maintenance

10/14/2021

 
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Dale Goddard with the Soil and Water Conservation District will discuss pond maintenance strategies on Thursday, October 28th from 8am-9am at the Champaign County Community Center Auditorium.
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Free for Farm Bureau Members, $5.00 for all others. Click here to register online!

Mechanicsburg FFA Competes

10/8/2021

 

By Dani Schipfer - Mechanicsburg FFA Reporter

Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter members pose for picture in an open field
Pictured (left to right) are: Dani Schipfer, Cami McDonald, Darrell Stacey, Lilly Marsh, Hannah Dingledine, Haley Hamby, Shanna Caudill, Cameron Moore, Ella Conley, Avaley Bostick, Myah Bandy & Lucas Schaner.
From Urbana Daily Citizen

On September 16, the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter took two teams to compete at the Champaign County Soils contest. At a soils contest the FFA members are asked to evaluate the slope, soil texture, soil structure, landform, and evaluate the risks for four different pits. At each pit they are given twenty minutes to complete this task. They are then asked to complete a general knowledge test and a test based off, and with the use of, the survey soil book. The participants that competed as rural were; Ella Conley, Makayla Casey, Shelby Ritchie, Jack Byerly, Hannah Dingledine, Shanna Caudill, and Lucas Schaner. The participants that competed as urban were; Dani Schipfer, Lilly March, Cami McDonald, Avaley Bostick, Myah Bandy, and Darrell Stacey. The top four scorers that made up each team’s score were; Lucas Schaner, Shanna Caudill, Hannah Dingledine, and Ella Conley for rural, and Dani Schipfer, Lilly Marsh, Cami McDonald, and Avaley Bostick for Urban. Both teams qualified to move on to the district contest on September 28th.
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Urbana, Ohio 43078
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