Several receive conservation awards at event

County Commissioner James Tsagaris received a top conservation honor.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- A close and highly contested election for two positions on the board of supervisers was the among the highlights of the Trumbull County Soil and Water Conservation District annual banquet.
Trumbull County Fair Board member Jan Solomon of Lordstown and incumbent Davis Denman of Johnston Township were elected Thursday, unseating member Susan Montgomery of Newton Falls.
Mike Wilson, executive director of the district, said the election was highly contested because more than 140 votes were cast, including 115 absentee votes under relatively new voting rules. He said the amount of votes was high compared with previous years.
The district gave out a number of awards to people who have made efforts in natural resources over the past year, including the district's long-standing Bill Penn Memorial award, which went to county Commissioner James Tsagaris.
The award is the highest honor bestowed upon a citizen of Trumbull County for conservation. He received the award for his support of natural resources and conservation activities over the years.
Penn was the district conservationist from 1956-81 who died shortly after his retirement. The SWCD board named the award after him in 1982.
Others who were recognized
This year was the first year the district gave out an individual honor for outstanding urban conservationist. It went to Trish Nuskievicz, who works for the Trumbull County Planning Commission and volunteers with many other environmental groups and organizations.
The district also honored outstanding educator, Audrey Hudak; outstanding conservation farmer, William Zuga of Vernon Township; and outstanding conservation development, "Villas on the Green" in Champion Township.
The district honored the first-place team from Howland Middle School in this year's Junior Envirothon. The team consists of adviser Patrick Hovance and team members Lewis Aggarwal, Mary Lee King, Aaron Sutton and Simon Zhang.
Richard Houk of Newton Falls received the extraordinary service honor from his fellow district supervisors for his long hours of volunteering. John Knapp, current district conservationist, received honors in his field from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Randy James from Geauga County, a humorist author of "Why Cows Learn Dutch and Other Secrets of Amish Farms." He is a native of Trumbull County and for more than 25 years has been the agricultural agent in Geauga County, where he works daily with farmers in the fourth-largest Amish settlement in the world.
He has a Ph.D. in agronomy and is a faculty member with Ohio State University Extension. His talk was about Amish farm life, society and values.
runyan@vindy.com