Berks County Conservation District Annual Awards Banquet

1. Berks County Conservation District Annual Awards Banquet

2. Berks County Conservation District Farmer of the Year

3. Tim and Deborah Kurtz and their family own & operate a third generation dairy farm Kurtland Farms is located in Caernarvon Township Tim Kurtz ~ Kurtland Farms The operation presently consists of 425 Cows, 350 Replacements and 300 Crop Acres

4. Berks County Conservation District Erosion Control Plan Designer of the Year

5. Karen Krater • Earned a Bachelor of Science in Landscape from Penn State. • As a registered Landscape Architect Karen has won several awards from the National Paver Institute & local garden clubs. • Employed at John Hoffert Surveying, responsible for all Erosion and Sediment Control projects. • Serves as Chair of the Millcreek Township Planning Commission; President of the Community Center Board; member of the Newmanstown Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary

6. Berks County Conservation District Contractor of the Year

7. Barwis Construction LLC • Founded in January 2004, Barwis is • a land development / site-work • contractor located in Berks County • Offer full service land development • packages for commercial, • government, subdivisions, • PENNDOT and • residential • projects • Barwis Construction believes in going the extra mile when it comes to natural resource conservation

8. Berks County Conservation District Conservation Individual of the Year

9. Worked in the conservation field close to 20 years; starting with water quality sampling then advancing to do Chesapeake Bay Program implementation & TulpehockenCreek Watershed coordination. • Served as the County’s biosolidsland application monitor, provided farm plans for the mushroom industry & managed several grant projects. • Worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Services to develop conservation plans and install best management practices. • Since 2009, has annually monitored over 650 farms in the Berks County Agricultural Land Preservation Program to ensure they maintain compliance with the • easement. Kimberly Fies INSERT PHOTO HERE

10. Berks County Conservation District Conservation Group of the Year

11. Left to Right Kristy Heffner, President Trinity Hamm, Vice President Barron Kistler, Reporter Meghan Glover, Member Celeste Ball, FFA Advisor Bottom Row - Left to Right: AlyaBlatt, Calliope Yoffe, Jacob Fairchild, Justin Fairchild , Kyle Lubak Top Row - Left to Right:Frank Mohr, Meghan Glover, Jamie Sieffert, Barron Kistler, Trinity Hamm Kutztown Future Farmers of America (FFA)

12. Project in Kutztown PA September 2013 “Before” November 2013 “After”

13. Berks County Conservation District Conservation Group of the Year

14. Pier Ignozzi-Shaffer Callie White David Beane Barbara Cole Andrew Molteni • Hold quarterly Rain Barrel workshops throughout the City of Reading • Participates in the Smart Growth Alliance to foster future land use and development in accordance with sustainable principles • Drafting an amendment to the City’s Zoning Ordinance to address Alternative Energy to promote and regulate the use of geothermal, solar, wind, hydro and biomass systems • Provided input on the City’s Municipal Separate • Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) permit Reading Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) ~ Members Not Pictured ~ Cathy Curran-Myers City Employees: Shelly Katzenmoyer-Deputy City Clerk Deborah Hoag-Environmental Division Mgr.

15. Berks County Conservation District Outstanding Achievement of the Year

16. Berks County Jail System Sawmill • The jail takes pride in various innovative conservation efforts and practices: • RAIN BARRELS • are painted and constructed by jail • maintenance staff & inmates used in the • Conservation District’s rain barrel program. • IN-VESSEL COMPOSTER SYSTEM • has been constructed; the system mixes pre • and post consumption food waste, leaves, • tree trimmings and grass clippings from the • jail campus. This was an effort to help • reduce the amount of waste material going • to landfills. • HOMEMADE SAWMILL • is used to cut wood from trees that have fallen • or been removed from County property. Some • cut wood was used to replace the old • deteriorated floor boards in the Heister • mansion barn. Rain Barrel Composter

17. Berks County Conservation District Scholarship Recipients

18. $4,000 Berks County Conservation District Scholarship Recipient MATTHEW BEEKMAN

19. Matthew Beekman • Freshman at Delaware Valley College, Environmental Science with a minor in Agribusiness • Member of Collegiate FFA, • Horticultural Club, • Outdoor Club and Rock • Climbing Club • Grew up on his family farm, representing the 4th generation of the family business

20. $1,200 Berks County Conservation District Scholarship Recipient AUSTIN STOUDT

21. Austin Stoudt • Senior at Conrad Weiser high school, focusing on science • Will be attending Kutztown University as Biology major this fall • Interests include being a musician, martial arts – has achieved a 2nd degree black belt

22. $1,000 Berks County Conservation District Scholarship Recipient ZACHERY ZIMMERMAN

23. Zachery Zimmerman • Senior at Muhlenberg High School • Plans to attend SUNY (State University of New York) Cobleskill campus, NY to major in Animal Science • Interests include hunting, fishing, and hopes to one day own and operate a farm raising Texas Longhorn cattle

24. $500 Berks County Conservation District Memorial Endowment Scholarship Recipient TYLER PARR

25. Tyler Parr • Senior at Oley Valley High School • Will attend Penn State Berks, major in Agriculture Business • Interests include marching band, concert band, stage crew, track and field,and church activities, hunting, hiking • Worked at Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation as a council to cub scouts and a cub nature assistant director

26. $500 Solon Phillips Memorial Scholarship Recipient CALLISTA MILLER

27. Callista M. Miller • A senior honor student at Oley Valley High School • Plans to attend Penn State University majoring in Food Science & Technology with a focus in Food Chemistry or Food Engineering • President of the Oley Valley FFA, member of the National Honor Society, Tri-M (music honor society), German Honor Society, a violist in the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra

28. $1,000 Pomona Grange in Memory of Henry Bohn Scholarship Recipient ASHLEY MOHN

29. Ashley Mohn • Sophomore at Delaware Valley College, majoring in Dairy Science, minors in Ag Business and Media, Communications • A member of Sigma Alpha, a sorority for agriculture women, Collegiate 4-H and FFA, and Dairy Society • Dream job is promoting the dairy industry by working in the public relations or marketing design unit of either a dairy processing plant or a business in the dairy industry

30. $1,000 Pine Creek Watershed Association Scholarship Recipient BRITTA SCHUMACHER

31. Britta Schumacher • Junior studying Geography at Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College • Research interests lie at the interface of parks and people • Traveling to Tanzania this summer to study and to complete her thesis research on the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Mang'ula, TZ

32. $800 Steven “Eldridge” Skelly Memorial Scholarship Recipient Catharine Scoboria

33. Catharine Scoboria • Senior at Berks Catholic High School • Plans on attending Penn State to study mechanical engineering • Involved with the Reading Berks Science and Engineering Fair for 6 years, this is the second year she won Reserve Champion • She is involved in the National Honor Society, Peer Listeners, and Student Ambassadors

34. Berks County Conservation District Reading Berks Science Fair Special Award

35. Schuyler is a student at Governor Mifflin • Her project is titled: Don’t Muddy the Water: The Effect of Ground Cover on Soil Erosion Schuyler Osgood

36. Urban Team Agricultural Team Directors Operations Team Thank You!