5/23/2011
The West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame (WVAFHF) Foundation
has selected four outstanding individuals to be inducted into the Hall of Fame
for 2011. These individuals will be honored at the Foundation’s annual banquet
held at Jackson’s Mill Saturday, July 9. A reception will begin at 5 p.m. in
front of the WVAFHF building, followed by dinner at the Jackson’s Mill dining
hall at 6 p.m.
Inductees for 2011 are: Roger L. Sherman (Forestry), James
Mitchell (Forestry), Harlan P. Carter, III & Jeanne Sheets Carter
(Agriculture - inducted as a couple) and Vernon A. Tacy (
Agriculture).
The WVAFHF Foundation will also honor the national champion
Barbour County 4-H Homesite Judging Team and the second place Barbour County 4-H
Land Judging Team. Under the direction of Roger Nestor, the Barbour County 4-H
Club has won seven homesite judging competitions in the past 11 years. In
addition, the Tyler County FFA, under Coach Leon Ammons won both the FFA Land
Judging and FFA Homesite Contests, and will also be honored.
The event is open to the public. Tickets are $30 each and the deadline for
reservations is June 24. Tickets can be purchased from:
- Brenda Aldridge, WVU Extension Service, 304-293-5691, ext. 3308
- Sherry Barnette, W.Va. Forestry Association, 304-372-1955
- Patsy Carpenter, W.Va. Division of Forestry, 304-558-2788 / 304-558-3446
- LeVera Gillum, W.Va. Farm Bureau, 304-472-2080, ext. 302
- Denise Hunnell, WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer
Sciences, 304-293- 2395
Enshrinement in the Hall of Fame is reserved for those individuals,
businesses, organizations, institutions and foundations that have made
outstanding contributions to the establishment, development, advancement and
improvement of the agricultural, forestry and family life of West Virginia.
The WVAFHF Foundation was chartered in 1974. J. Kenton Lambert and
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass spearheaded the effort
with the assistance of 28 agricultural organizations throughout West Virginia.
In 1976, the Board of Governors voted to include forestry professionals in the
Hall of Fame.
This year's inductees with brief bios:
Harlan P. “Ted” Carter, III, grew up near Wheeling.
Jeanne Sheets Carter was born in Green Bank, W.Va. They met at
West Virginia University. Mr. Carter was one of the first-place winners at
national competition attended by the WVU Dairy Judging Team, and Mrs. Carter
graduated magna cum laude in 1952 with a BS in Vocational Home Economics
Education. Mr. Carter obtained his teaching certification and also earned a
Master’s degree in Educational Administration and his Certification in
Counseling and Guidance. Mrs. Carter earned a Masters plus 30 hours in
Counseling and Guidance. Mr. Carter taught Biology at Warwood High School, was
an assistant principal and high school counselor. Mrs. Carter worked as a home
economist for the WVU and Ohio State Extension Services. She also worked at the
Ohio Valley General Hospital School of Nursing Staff, taught Nutrition at West
Liberty College and was a junior high school counselor in Ohio County public
schools. Both have been extremely active in 4-H throughout their lives. In 2002,
WVU Extension Service recognized the Carters at a dinner at Jackson’s Mill and
presented a plaque to them for “Outstanding Volunteer Fund Raising.” In 2003,
Mrs. Carter was among the first 100 persons to be inducted into the West
Virginia 4-H Hall of Fame. The Carter family was the first-ever recipient of the
West Virginia Farm Bureau/West Virginia State Fair Heritage Farming Award in
2006. Both have been long-term members and officers of the West Virginia Farm
Bureau. Both have belonged to the WVU Alumni Association and College of
Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics Alumni
Association.
James W. Mitchell was born in Barbour
County in 1947 and grew up in Arden. He attended West Virginia University (WVU),
majoring in Forestry and Wildlife Management, and graduated in 1968 with a B.S.
degree in Forestry. After graduating from WVU he was employed with the West
Virginia Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division in French Creek as a
service forester, where he worked for 33 years. His prevention work and
cooperation with county fire departments contributed to fewer fires and his fire
investigation skills led to an outstanding conviction rate on fire prosecutions.
In addition, Mr. Mitchell served on a committee at WVU that developed the
national award-winning “Managing Your Woodlot” video series. Mr. Mitchell is an
active member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and chaired ad hoc
committees to respond to appeals of United States Forest Service (USFS) timber
sales. He is also a member of the West Virginia Forestry Association (WVFA),
National Woodland Owner’s Association and American Forestry Association. He
retired in 2002 and started his consulting forestry business “Sentinel Forestry
Services,” where he still assists private landholders’ forest management
efforts. Mr. Mitchell was the District III West Virginia Division of Forestry
(DOF) Employee of the Year in 1986 and 1989. He was the state DOF Employee of
the year in 1993 and 1999. In 2002, he was named the WVFA Forester of the Year
and also received the Northeastern Cooperative Forest Management (CFM)
Forester of the Year award, given by the USFS to the outstanding CFM forester in
a 20-state area of the northeastern United States.
Roger
Sherman, a resident of Rupert, W.Va., graduated from North Carolina
State University with a BS degree in Science (Forestry) in 1972. He earned a
Master’s degree in Forestry from Yale University in 1974, and served in the U.S.
Army from 1966-1969. He joined Westvaco (now Mead-Westvaco) as Public Affairs
Forester in 1977, and has since dedicated much of his professional career to
advancing the interests of private landowners in West Virginia. He has served as
the volunteer chair of the Legislative Committee of the West Virginia Forestry
Association (WVFA) for 30 years. Mr. Sherman has made significant contributions
to water quality management in forestry and agriculture by helping to ensure
that laws and regulations governing land use were practical, reasonable and
equitable. He was the driving force behind the State’s Logging Sediment Control
Act. Mr. Sherman organized the informal Rural Caucus in the House of Delegates.
His advocacy was critical during the statewide property tax reappraisal. Under
the banner of the WVFA – and with the help of experts in the field – he brought
together a group that developed the “managed timberland” tax classification,
putting an end to years of wildly variable property values on forest land. Mr.
Sherman was involved in early efforts by federal and state agencies to determine
how to deal with forestry, farming and ranching under the Clean Water Act. Mr.
Sherman conceived, proposed and obtained funding for a course in economics for
primary and secondary school teachers. Taught at WVU, for 20 years the course
has offered graduate-level credit. He is a Fellow of the Society of American
Foresters (SAF). He was presented the Outstanding Service to Forestry Award by
the WVFA in 1986 and 1992, the WVFA President’s Service Award in 1992 and 2000,
the Allegheny Society of American Foresters John A. Beale Memorial Award in
1994, Society of American Foresters Fellow of the Society of American Foresters
in 1998, and the WVFA Environmental Education Award in
2008.
Vernon A. Tacy was born in 1929, on a productive
cash-crop farm in Randolph County, W.Va. The family was best known for potatoes
under the name of C. A. Tacy and Sons Potatoes. He graduated Tygart Valley High
School in 1947, and served as chapter president of the Future Farmers of
America. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from West
Virginia University (WVU) College of Agriculture and Forestry in 1953, served
two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and then received his Master’s degree
in Agriculture from WVU in 1969. The 30-year WVU Extension Agent spent nearly
his entire career in Harrison County, W.Va. He began with the WVU Extension
Service in 1955 and from the start worked to develop Harrison County’s dairy
industry. Mr. Tacy was instrumental in the construction of a youth livestock
complex in Harrison County. In 1959, the County Commissioner reserved six acres
of the old county poor farm and built a $76,000 4-H barn, which quickly became a
learning center for youth and adults. It eventually was replaced with a
$3-million complex. He was also a driving force in replacing livestock barns at
Jackson’s Mill that were destroyed by fire. He organized and conducted the first
Dairy Heifer Replacement Sale in 1965. Mr. Tacy will be long remembered for his
work during the 1977 drought, during which he helped locate and deliver 6,500
bales of hay to drought-stricken West Virginia farmers. In 1999 he was hired to
construct a 55-acre farm near Shinnston, W.Va., which was expecting the imminent
delivery of 97 alpaca. Mr. Tacy oversaw the construction of a large barn,
workshop, miles of fence, an extensive drainage system, water well, electricity
and phone service. For 10 years afterward, he oversaw the operation of the farm.
He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of
County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) in 1977. He also received the Outstanding
Performance Award from the Center for Extension and Continuing Education at West
Virginia University in 1980, and the Outstanding Teacher Award from WVU in the
same year. He was the Trainer-Agent for 20 or more new county agents throughout
his career. He was featured as the Catalog Honoree at the 44th West Virginia
Dairy Cattle Show and Festival at Jackson’s Mill in 1985.
Contact Information
Buddy Davidson, Communications Officer
304-558-3708; 304-541-5932 (cell)
bdavidson@ag.state.wv.us