Conservation District Prepares for Annual Farm City Banquet

This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.

The Centre County Conservation District will soon be holding its Farm City Week banquet and celebration, and tickets for the growing event are on sale now.

Sponsored by several community partners including the Centre County Farm Bureau, State College Kiwanis Club, Centre County Dairy Promotion and more, the celebration will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology near Pleasant Gap, 540 N. Harrison Rd.

The event, which will be hosted by Centre County Grange Fair Queen Sarah Mellot, celebrates a successful year of harvests and recognizes the importance of agriculture and its benefits to both rural and urban areas.

“We like to see the community come together, and Farm City is really a celebration where our ag community and their urban neighbors all join to recognize their relationship,” Conservation District Manager James Coslo said. “Each of those communities rely heavily on each other, and it’s great to get together and celebrate that.”

The banquet will open with a milk and cheese reception, sponsored by the Centre County Dairy Princess and dairy promotion board.

After the reception, Dr. Larry Schardt — an adjunct professor of Natural Resources Conservation and Sustainability in Penn State’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management — will provide a motivational speech, and after will be selling and signing copies of his recently-published book, “My Runaway Summer.”

Following Schardt’s speech, attendees will be treated to a homestyle turkey dinner with a slew of sides, which will be prepared by Country Kitchen of Spring Mills. Then, the Conservation District will present its annual awards, including its Clean Streams Award and Outstanding Conservation Farmer Award.

A silent auction will also be held, and door prizes will be awarded, with proceeds from those going toward future Farm City events.

“The event has been growing slowly but steadily over the past few years, and we’re encouraged and excited to see that growth continue this year,” Coslo said. “We would urge everybody and anybody that might be interested to come on out and see what the event’s all about, and to celebrate a great cause.”

Tickets for the event must be purchased in advance, and cost $20 per adult, $10 for children age 5-12 and are free for children younger than that, and can be purchased by emailing or calling the Conservation District at conservationdistrict@centrecountypa.gov or (814) 355-6817.

Tickets can also be purchased by stopping by the conservation district’s Bellefonte office in the Willowbank Building, 414 Holmes St., Suite 4, although the deadline to purchase them is Friday, Oct. 30.