Jim, Ken and Tom Chilton
ARIZONA FARMING & RANCHING HALL OF FAME BY JANICE BRYSON
The twelfth annual Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame Honorees Dinner was held on March 2, 2019 at the historic Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park. The honorees selected between 2008 and 2019 represent the Navajo Nation to Douglas, Safford to Parker and all points in between. Carole DeCosmo, author and historian, conceived the idea of a farm experience that would include an agricultural hall of fame. The Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame was founded in 2007 to preserve, present and honor the agricultural legacy of the farmers and ranchers in Arizona. The Hall of Fame Committee each year recognizes Honorees, five living and three posthumously, representing farming and ranching families, educators, businesses and the sciences that have created an enduring legacy for future generations. A source of pride for the Hall of Fame are the books published every five years with the biographies and pictures of each honoree. Preserving the Legacy Volume I includes 2008-2012 honorees and Volume PG. 30 :: SUMMER 2019
II spans the years 2013-2017. Books can be ordered from www.Azfare. org if you do not find them at a museum gift shop in your area. Posthumous honorees for 2019 included Delmar Dee John from the Buckeye/Gila Bend area who farmed cotton, alfalfa, barley and wheat and Ross Roberts, son of one of the early pioneer farm families in Palo Verde, who started his successful cattle business with 2 heifers. Also Karl Gaius Udall, Eagar, who had the reputation of being an honest man who spent his life furthering the interests of agriculture for his family and his community. Everett Rhodes, Casa Grande, was honored for his contribution to agriculture as director of Project CENTRL, a rural leadership program, as well as his involvement working with FFA and 4-H. Other living honorees included Frank Auza, Flagstaff, one of his lasting contributions to the sheep industry was building the sheep bridge over the Verde River at Bloody Basin. Buckeye’s Perry Family established a
Picutred Above: Michael Wystrach, Kerry Nienstedt, Mike & Grace Wystrach, Amie Wystrach, Andrea & Ted Walker
