“If you haven’t thanked a farmer yet, please do so,” stated Marcia Zoller, Norma Johnson Center (NJC) director and soil and water educator, as she took a quick break from scrambling dozens of eggs for guests. Her ‘customers’ were members of the agricultural community who came to the NJC Brandywine Center for the second annual Community Agriculture Appreciation Breakfast. The event was sponsored by the Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District.

Coworkers Jenny Fisher and Lee Finley, both technicians for the district, were also kept busy flipping pancakes and refilling platters as guests continued to arrive at the March 18 breakfast, held in honor of National Agricultural Week.

“We work a lot with farmers, implementing conservation practices. We also work with education programs and public relations, getting our name out there. This breakfast is definitely for our agriculture partners, and I am seeing some of our farmers here today,” explained Fisher.

Finley added, “We have a very good farming community in this county, and it has been a privilege to be able to work with them, getting out and getting to know them, and seeing how many hardworking people there are in the county, and seeing what they are really trying to do. They are conservation minded.”

Local dairy and crop farmer Gary Burky paused to fill his coffee cup before sitting down to his plate of hot food.

“We’ve worked with the soil and water people on a number of projects. Right now, we are working with them on one where we are going to be putting up a manure storage satellite pond in back of a barn, so that whenever weather conditions are fit, we have it right there and can spread it, rather than running three miles back and forth to the farm,” he said. “The Soil and Water District has done a lot for us over the years. We have worked with them for years. I believe it was in 1980 that our farm received the county conservation award from them.”

Tracy Haney, district program administrator, expressed her gratitude to the many who contributed to the success of the breakfast.

“We want to thank all of the farmers and producers who have helped us by supporting us with donating for this. The Pork Producers donated about 30 pounds of ham, we have about 26 dozen eggs donated by John and Cora Welling and Chris and Sam Raber, and we also have pancake mixes donated by the Farm Bureau. The syrup was donated by the Steele family,” Haney noted. “We have also had a lot of partner organizations coming out today, like Farm Service Agency, Farm Bureau, Natural Resources, and many others coming out to support this function. We also have the community here to support us. This is going to be an annual event. This is our second year, but mark your calendars for the third Friday in March 2012. Come enjoy, talk with everyone, and have a social time. We appreciate all of the support.”

Haney explained that the $5 donation collected at the door for the breakfast all goes into a scholarship fund for graduating high school seniors.

“The scholarship information is available on our website at http://www.tuscsoil.com or by calling us at 330-339-7976,” Haney added.

Burky grinned as he motioned to the breakfast items before him.

“This breakfast was excellent. For $5, you get all you can eat. You can’t get a better bargain than that!”