Beech Tree News Network

The Conservation Writing and Jim Claypool Art Contest had an awards reception at the Eva Hawes Community Building on Thursday afternoon. The writing contest has been going on for 70 years, and the art contest for 40.
The main theme of the contest is conservation, but the focus changes annually, according to District Administrator Amanda Arnold: “Last year was Mission H2O, this year is Soil Daily Times... [the] publication is what we send to the teachers… like their textbook for this contest.” The contest is held annually from September – December, then sent on for state judging. Participants will also receive a T shirt reflecting this year’s theme.

First, second and third place winners from local schools were awarded prizes. The district winner for the essay writing portion of the event was BCHS student Zach Coy, and Ronnie Cockrell, student at North Butler Elementary, was the district art winner.  Teachers of district winners Susie Dorris of North Butler Elementary, and Lee Ann Daugherty, of Butler County High School, were also recognized. [The Experience] benefits the kids because they get to show their art talent… it lets these kids be recognized that are good at art.” Dorris stated.

Conservation District Chairman Shane Wells: “We appreciate… the teachers, without them helping us promote this we couldn’t get it done…. The number of entrants across the state went down for several years and part of that was because…there was a big newspaper that came called the Courier Journal, and that was what promoted it…. A few years ago Courier Journal decided to back out of it, and decided not to do that anymore. And the number of entrants really went down. It was all online. It was tough to get the information out to teachers, but our KACD employees took it on themselves to get those packets printed… and we went up from 32,000 participants the year before last, up to 62,000 this year.”
”I liked it cause I get to work on it a lot, and compare pictures with everyone else’s” said Hezekiah Pendley, second place art winner at Morgantown Elementary.

“Getting to sit there and write, it’s something I enjoy. I had to get on the internet to figure out what all of the stuff was.“ Samuel Rice, who won second place at Butler County Middle School, stated. Both young people said they plan to save their prize money.
Finally, an award was given for Outstanding Cooperator, awarded to Steven Royals of Fisherville, KY. Royals owns property in theee, and Samuel Rice Butler County Conservation district: “I put a lot of work in this year to do it, but we were happy we did. We try to conserve the land and make it as natural a habitat as it can be [and] primarily do it for wildlife conservation. I do it for the kids, so they have a place to go and be in a natural setting. We’re from up around Louisville, and they have parks and things, but it’s not the same.”
The contest was judged by Bobby Smith of Farm Bureau, Lance Lockhart of Young Farmers, and Charlie Singleton of the Farm Service Agency.

Story and photos by J. Harris, Beech Tree News