Conservation district's 63rd annual meeting held Saturday

By Michael Pommier

The Fort Scott Tribune

Bourbon County residents as well as two Kansas legislators gathered at Uniontown High School for the 63rd annual meeting of the Bourbon County Conservation District and the presentation of county's conservation awards.

The evening began with a brief business meeting. During the meeting Wayne Thorpe and Dean Bailey were elected to serve on the conservation district board.

While the votes were being tallied, Ronnie Brown gave a district report to discuss the past year in the district as well as the future.

"We've had a good year in the district," Brown said.

Brown also announced the honoring of Cheryl Bennett who was one of two Kansas recipients of the "Secretary of the Year" award.

The bulk of Brown's report was the discussion of the Kansas budget and how it will affect the district.

Brown said he visited Topeka to speak with Kansas House Representatives Bob Grant and Shirley Palmer about the opposition of the State Conservation Commission being consolidated to the Department of Agriculture. Brown said this move will save the state about $710,000. However, it would severely cut the amount of funding to the district. According to Brown if the district loses funding, it could have dire consequences.

"We could lose our identity as a conservation district," Brown said. "You can see in the future, we aren't going to have much to do for a while."

Brown encouraged those in attendance to take action and contact local representatives and express opposition to the change. Grant who was in attendance as well as Palmer, said talking to him would not accomplish much. He encouraged residents to contact representatives from other areas of the state.

After the conclusion of the business meeting there was a presentation of the conservation awards.

In the kindergarten through first grade division: Kolby Sisseck from Fort Scott Christian Heights won first place; and Claire Meanor from Fort Scott Christian Heights won Honorable Mention.

In the second through third grade division: Levi Whisenhunt from West Bourbon Elementary won first place; and Hannah Cox from Fort Scott Christian Heights won Honorable Mention.

In the fourth through sixth grade division: Bailey Taylor from Eugene Ware won first place; and Makenna Berger from Eugene Ware won Honorable Mention; as did Karleigh Arndt from Winfield Scott.

In the seventh through ninth grade division: Kylee Thomas from Fort Scott Middle School won first place; and Kaitlyn Grado from Fort Scott Middle School won Honorable Mention.

In the Limerick contest, the first place winner was Beth Cox from Fort Scott Christian Heights. Second place was awarded to Matthew Williams also from Fort Scott Christian Heights, with Rebecca Wray from Fort Scott Christian Heights receiving Honorable Mention.

Two students from the district received state honors. Hayden Rathbun received first place in the state essay contest and Taylor Grant received Honorable Mention in the state poster contest.

County residents also received awards Saturday.

The Grassland Award was presented to Robert and Joyce Love of Fort Scott.

The Wildlife and Parks Habitat Award was presented to Donny and Pam Allenbrand of Olathe.

The Continuing Conservation Award was presented to Donnie and Georgia Brown of Fort Scott.

The Kansas Bankers Conservation Awards were presented to Kenny and Beth Snyder and Joe and Barbara Peine.

The Water Quality Award was presented to Kerri and Tammie O'Brien.

Following the awards presentation door prizes were given away and the meeting concluded.