By Sherrie Norris
It was another great celebration for the local farm and agricultural community, in addition to many of its friends and supporters, during the 66th annual Farm City Banquet last Thursday evening, Nov. 3, at the Family Life Center of Boone United Methodist Church.
Like so many other special events that had to take a breather because of the recent pandemic, Farm City was forced to be pushed aside until this year.
Historically held on the first Thursday of each November, the return of the event was warmly welcomed, as evidenced by the large crowd in attendance.
In his opening remarks, Watauga County Cooperative Extension Director, Jim Hamilton said he considered it “a great honor” to welcome everyone to the banquet — and to see everyone again “in person. . . .Some of you may know we tried to do the event remotely in 2020, but that went over like a sack of rotten taters. Online banquets don’t work.”
But, Hamilton added, “After three years, we’re happy to bring back this long-standing fall tradition of getting our farming community and town folk alike into one place to share a meal together and celebrate what makes our place so special.”
Hamilton spoke of the challenges of the last couple of years — “on every front.”
He recalled that during the height of the 2020 shut-downs, he was asked a lot. “ So, what are y’all doing? Are y’all shut down? What are the farmers doing?”
His response was simple and possibly unexpected by some.
“Farmers kept farmin’. We saw our farming community rally behind the restaurant industry and provide meals to out-of-work service staff. We saw farmers sell more products at the Food Hub and the Farmer’s Markets than ever before. Our Christmas tree growers saw the best two years they’ve ever had when the penned-up city folks flocked to the mountain to choose and cut their family’s Christmas tree.”
And the list of successful ventures went on:
“Watauga Butchery opened up the first USDA certified meat processing facility in the county, which allowed our local meat producers to keep meat on the table. Lee Rankin and her gang at Apple Hill Farm and other agritourism farms saw more visitors than they ever have. Paige and her Master Gardeners pulled off the plant sale and made house calls — delivering plants that had been ordered before the world shut down.”
And, Hamilton stressed, “There’s plenty more examples that all speak volumes to the resilience of our community. Every single thing about this banquet —from the food, to the awards we present, to the entertainment, to the items in those baskets that we’re giving away as door prizes, everything (!) about our Farm City Banquet is locally sourced. And I’m super proud of that. Y’all should be super proud of that!
And the audience applause confirmed his thoughts.
“We have a great program lined up this evening,” Hamilton shared, as he proceeded to welcome special guests, including author and journalist, Evan Smith, who talked about his book, “Here by the Owl;” entertainers, Patrick and Kay Crouch; and, David Jackson, President of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, who served as emcee for the event.
In his welcome remarks, Jackson acknowledged elected officials and members of the business community— “They put the ‘city’ in Farm City.”
Also welcomed was Amy Nelson, with the NC Agro-medicine Institute, “available to discuss various health resources . . . and she’s doing free blood pressure and blood sugar screenings, if you need that checked out before dessert.”
Jackson also acknowledged the folks who helped put the banquet together.
“There are a lot of moving parts that have to fall into place to make this event happen,” he said, pointing out that the Cooperative Extension staff “and their team of volunteers and basket-goods sponsors hustled to make sure it goes off without a hitch.”
Continuing the American Farm Bureau’s national support of Farm City Banquet for almost 70 years, now, Jackson said. “Our Watauga County Farm Bureau supports this banquet as our platinum sponsor. A lot of folks don’t realize that Farm Bureau is not just insurance.”
Thanking them for their support, Jackson spoke of how the Farm Bureau Board in Watauga is a local advocate for the many agricultural issues facing our farmers and agriculture here and throughout the state.
“When you see these folks or our other sponsors, please thank them and support their businesses. We truly would not be able to host this event for the $10 ticket price you paid.”
The sponsors included:
- New River Building Supply
- Southern Ag
- Carolina Farm Credit
- Hollar and Greene Produce
- Blue Ridge RC&D—who covered the ticket costs for 15 high school FFA members to attend
- PHARMN
- Mast General Store
Jackson also shared the names of local businesses and farms that donated items for the door prizes/ (22!)baskets that were given away during the evening.
“Mast General Store provided an extra special basket of goodies, and Richard Tumbleston, one of our most respected local artists, donated an original piece of art that will be given away at the end.” Other donors included:
- HS Greene from Hidden Happiness Bee Farm (bottle of honey in each basket)
- Bill Moretz (apples)
- Corbett’s Produce (jars of jelly)
- The Presnell Family & Old Beech Mountain Farm (beef sticks)
- Goodnight Brothers (ham)
- Blue Ridge RC&D (thermos’s and t-shirts)
- Bettie Bond (birdseed)
- Critcher Brothers (cabbage)
- Stick Boy Bakery (muffins)
- Lee Rankin & Apple Hill Farm (alpaca wool socks)
- Shipley Farm (tickets to their special farm tour event) this
Also recognized were the youth participants, students and officers of Watauga High’s FFA program, as well as several faculty and students from the Appalachian State Sustainable Development Department
Jackson also thanked the Boone United Methodist Church for the use of the banquet space, as well as Lisa DeLaurentis and Sam Kohler for logistics assistance.
Last, but certainly not least, was acknowledgment of the locally- sourced and delicious meal served and prepared by JP Mason and his staff at Coyote Kitchen.
Watauga County Commissioner Billy Kennedy and former county commissioner/banquet sponsor, Perry Yates, lead the crowd in the pledge of allegiance and an invocation, respectively.
Following the meal, Jackson related that Farm City Banquet is actually part of National Farm City Week, which is celebrated in many communities across the United States, “officially” November 16 —“But, because we’re ahead of the curve in So many ways here in Watauga, we proclaim it and celebrate it a little earlier. And to do that, our Mayor of Boone, Tim Futrelle is here to read and sign the Farm City Week Proclamation.
Describing youth and our Future Farmers are our future food providers, horticulture specialists,, Jackson said it has become a tradition over the years to showcase our active FFA program at Watauga High.
Jim hamilton introduced special guest Evan Smith: “Evan is journalist, originally from Columbus Ohio, who covered a range of territory with USA Today and other news outlets from here to Capitol Hill, but who now works for the Community Journals in Greenville South Carolina. His debut historic, non-fiction book (that reads like a novel) tells a really important, almost forgotten piece of history, which has roots right here in Watauga County. The book is titled ‘Here by the Owl’, which is actually a nod to FFA (you can ask an FFA member what ‘here by the owl means’ and it features Watauga’s own RG Shipley as its main character. Mr. Shipley is one of Watauga County’s GOATs (that stands for Greatest of All Time. “My kids had to tell me what that meant”). Mr. Shipley, who many of you knew, is Evan’s great, great uncle.”
Mr. Shipley was one of the great local agriculture advocates in the area, Hamilton shared, who taught agriculture at the old Cove Creek School for decades.
“And his son and grandson have given new life to the Shipley Farm, raising and processing beef at Watauga Butchery,” Hamilton shared. “Before his passing in 2015, at 103 years old, Mr. Shipley came to 57 straight farm city banquets — including the very first one!”
Following Smith’s very enlightening and entertaining speech, he was available to sign copies of his book, which includes a lot of what he shared on Thursday, so we don’t want to ruin the intrigue here for those who haven’t read it yet.
Entertainers Kay and Patrick Crouch (aka Strictly Clean and Decent) are a multi-instrumental acoustic duet from Caldwell County. They perform a variety of musical styles including modern folk songs, songs of family and home in traditional and contemporary bluegrass settings, and centuries-old Celtic airs and dance tunes.
And The Winners Are . . .
Jackson reminded his audience that Farm City Banquet provides an opportunity for individuals “who are working tirelessly to improve our local agricultural economy and members of the community that support them,” to be recognized.
These include community members, youth, organizations and others whose name you might not see in the paper or who post a lot of memes on Facebook, but who are the unsung heroes in our community, nonetheless, deserving of recognition, he described.
This year’s winners are:
- Cattleman of the Year Award: The family of Jimmy South
- Beekeeper Special Award: Susan Cole
- The Blue Ridge Women in Ag Outstanding in the Field Award: Carol Coulter
- The Youth in Agriculture Award Tristan Mick
- Charles Church Sustainability Award Jess McClellan
- Farm Family of the Year Award: (presented by Watauga County Soil & Water) to Holly Whiteside and Andy Bryant, and family of Against the Grain Farm
And a couple of awards that needed a little “extra” explanation:
- The L.E. Tuckwiller Award is sponsored and presented by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, in recognition of outstanding efforts in community development. LE Tuckwiller was one of the county’s early Extension Agents who served Watauga for over 30 years in agriculture. The recipients of this year’s Tuckwiller award haven’t been Chamber members for that long, but in just a few years have built their farm business and their farm store into one of the most successful in the county. The operation of their diversified farm and business is a family affair — with each member of the family also active in a number of civic and community volunteer roles. The daughter-in-law serves on the Farm Bureau Board, mom is on the advisory board for the Food Hub, the son supports other farms and farm businesses as a loan officer with Carolina Farm Credit, and Dad is retiring soon from NC State — and even served as an economic advisor to the White House. All of this while running their own beef cattle operation and taking turns running the farm stores. This year’s LE Tuckwiller Award is being presented to Brown family —all of them — Blake, Ann, Daniel, Alex (and Meredith) of the historic Brown’s Farm Ridge and Corbett’s Produce.
- Spirit of Farm City Award: Dave Walker
“The Spirit of Farm City award is special recognition, and is something that is not presented every year,” said Hamilton. “However, due to this individual’s strong commitment to our local food economy and support of agriculture and community alike, and the fact that this individual, to our knowledge, has not received an award here at Farm City during their tenure here in Boone, we felt it was high time, that they be recognized. Can I take a quick survey…who here sells products…any product….at the Food Hub, the Boone Winter Market, or the King Street Market. Okay…now, keep your hands up. Who here has ever shopped at the Food Hub or the Boone Winter Market or King Street Market? Who here went on one of the High Country Farm Tours over the years or attended a CRAFT workshop from Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture? This individual is one of the key reasons that other communities, counties, and towns across the state want to come here and learn from us. We have one of, if not the most successful and vibrant food hubs and local food infrastructure in the state, if not the country, due in large part to the efforts of the recipient of this award. As a successful grant-writer and pragmatic problem solver, it has been great to work with him over the last decade. Sadly, he recently left his role as co-director of the Food Hub & Blue Ridge Women in Ag to become the Associate Director, of the Resourceful Communities Program in Chapel Hill. But, in recognition of his outstanding contribution, service, and commitment to our community, its farmers, and our region’s local food economy, your collaborative and innovative actions truly embody the spirit of this award and the mission of Farm City, I’m proud to present the Spirit of Farm City Award to Dave Walker.”
If you have suggestions for award nominations and/or would like to serve on future Farm City committees, please contact Jim Hamilton, County Extension Director, Watauga County Extension Director, (828) 264-3061.
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