Above, L-R from top left) Charles A. Dietz, Sr., Jack McBride, Ken and Betty McCullough and John “Joe” Saltzman.
HARDIN COUNTY __ The Hardin County Agriculture Hall of Fame committee has announced inductees for 2024. The organization will honor Charles A. Dietz, Sr. (posthumously), Jack McBride, Ken (posthumously) and Betty McCullough and John “Joe” Saltzman (posthumously).
The awards banquet will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3 at St. John’s Evangelical Church, 211 East Carrol Street, Kenton.
The public is invited to the banquet. Tickets must be purchased by November 15. Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling the Ohio State University Extension office in Hardin County at 419-674-2297 or can be purchased from the committee members: Kerry Oberlitner, Genny Haun, Bob Wood, Zach McCullough, Doug Griffith, Gary Harpster, John Knedler, Bob McBride or Nic Baumer.
Bruce McPheron, PhD will be the keynote speaker. McPheron is a Kenton native and Emeritus Professor of Entomology, Emeritus Executive Vice President and Provost, and Emeritus Vice President and Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
The purpose of the county Agriculture Hall of Fame is to recognize outstanding agricultural contributions by Hardin County individuals and to honor those who have brought distinction to themselves and the agricultural industry.
ABOUT THE INDUCTEES
Charles A. Dietz, Sr. served as manager of the Blanchard Elevator from 1953 to 1986. He was responsible for all grain handling, specially feed formulations, maintaining grain quality, grain drying, overseeing compliance with safety regulations, maintenance of equipment and facilities, and customer service. He took his role as manager of the elevator very seriously to provide outstanding facilities and exemplary customer service to the farmers of Hardin and surrounding counties. He made himself available twenty-four hours a day, especially during planting and harvesting seasons. He made many important improvements to the elevator to meet the needs of farmers and comply with state and federal regulations. He was a great supporter of FFA and 4-H in Hardin County and championed the efforts of students involved and participating in the livestock sale at the Hardin County Fair each year. He received a special award from the Hardin Northern FFA Chapter for providing scholarships to seniors attending college to study agriculture.
Charles believed greatly that personal relationships with farmers were the most important contributions he could make to their success. To that end, he did not seek membership in organizations associated with the larger farming community but maintained ongoing connections with the farmers he served. He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Church in Kenton, local chapter of the Knights of Columbus, served as youth chairman for the annual basketball free throw competition and the “Measure Up” campaign for individuals with intellectual disabilities and was active in Boy Scout Troop 160 where he served as a troop leader for over 25 years. Graduated from Immaculate Conception School in 1937.
Charles was always looking to both help others and advance his own knowledge which led him to take an advanced training course through the Ohio State University Extension office. He always looked for innovative ways to support the needs of the farming community. He did this through making improvements to the elevator he managed. He was a diligent and dedicated educator of community youth and was honest and ethical in his dealing with others. He was generous, hardworking, patient, loyal, and trustworthy. No matter who or when someone needed help, he was there. He always made sure no one was coming to the elevator by looking up and down the road before closing the elevator for the evening. If someone was coming down the road or a farmer had extenuating circumstances, he would stay open late to help them. Charles was always putting others’ needs before his own.
Jack McBride is a retired Agricultural Education Instructor and FFA Advisor and is currently Adjunct Professor at Rhodes State College. Jack is a member of the Hardin County Fair Board and current chair of the Livestock Sale Committee. He serves as an advisor for the Blanchard Pleasant Buckeyes 4-H Club encouraging youth to be involved in agriculture. He supports the Hardin Northern FFA chapter with any help that is needed. He assisted the Hardin County 4-H program by assisting with teaching the Livestock Quality Assurance curriculum. He taught high school Agricultural Education and was an FFA advisor at Patrick Henry High School for 1 year and St. Marys Memorial High School for 31 years. He was the advisor for the St. Marys Young Farmers and was actively involved with the Auglaize County Fair livestock sale and 4-H program.
Jack has been involved with the Hardin County United Way in president and vice president roles, as a Farm Bureau member, as treasurer for the Walnut Grove Church trustees, Auglaize County livestock sale committee treasurer and t. Marys City Schools Teacher Association president. He was a member of the Ohio Association of Agricultural Educators, National Association of Agricultural Educators and was a National Board Certified Teacher. Jack is known for his work with youth in many ways and as a leader in the many organizations he is involved in. He always strives to help young people become productive adults.
On September 26th, 1970, Ken and Betty McCullough, two individuals with vastly different backgrounds, joined their lives. Ken, a farm boy at heart, and Betty, a Marion native, stood by each other for the next 52 years. Their love and commitment to each other were evident in every aspect of their lives, especially in their roles as parents and grandparents. They were blessed with 3 children, JT, Michele, and Zac, and currently, they are the proud grandparents of 6. Their love for their family guided their lives, shaping their decisions and actions in every endeavor they undertook.
As a freshman in 1963, Ken began raising Hogs and selling showing and breeding stock around the state. Upon graduation in 1967 from Kenton, he began working at Central Soya, making beanmeal and livestock feed, but he also had a passion for farming. In 1978, Central Soya went on strike, and Ken decided not to return. Ken and Betty built the first area Veal barn in 1979; the barn housed 424 heads of calves. Ken and Betty welcomed area neighbors and schools to promote their new ag adventure. They continued to grow their swine herd and, in the early 80s, began to have annual swine production sales, selling registered Chester white gilts and boars nationwide. In 1986, a large barn fire destroyed many of the top swine genetics Ken worked so hard to grow. They would always have a few hogs, but never to the caliber they had before the fire. Through the 90's, Ken began helping locals market their hogs at the Herman Falter Packing Company in Columbus. He started hauling hogs for them and hauling upwards of 150 loads yearly. In 1998, when their youngest son, Zac, was a freshman in high school, they started K & B Feeds in Mount Victory, selling types of livestock feed. Ken and Betty continued to raise Veal until 2010. Feeding twice daily is like feeding on a dairy farm. In 2010, the Veal market crashed, and not knowing what to do with the barn, they converted it to start raising feeder calves. Like veal, they would get in deacon calves, raise them on milk until six weeks, then convert them to grain. These calves would be raised to 350-400 pounds and sold as feeder calves. In the prime, they would raise 600-800 of these per year, and Ken took great pride in starting calves in March for the kids to pick through for fair calves; he loved watching the fair shows every year. JT and Zac are still doing this today with help from Betty. Ken was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 but continued to work with the livestock up to his passing in April of 2022.
Ken and Betty were always promoting livestock in any way they could. Ken lobbied for the Pork Producers in Washington DC in the late 80s and served on the pork producers for many years. Ken was also a long-time 4-H advisor for the Mount Victory Champs. He always wanted to do anything he could to help the kids. Betty served as a President of the Hardin County pork producers and was highly involved with the pork trailer at the Hardin County Fair. Betty was involved with numerous pork queen candidates for Hardin County and helped candidates from other counties prepare for the state pork queen contest. Betty also did pork demonstrations at the county and state fairs and local schools promoting pork. In the mid-90s, Betty served on the National Beef Counsel for the National Cattleman's Association, representing the Veal industry. In 1998, Ken and Betty were highlighted on Agri Country with Ed Johnson for their work in the Pork and Cattle industries.
John “Joe” Saltzman was a Vocational Agriculture teacher at both Ada High School and Hardin Northern High School for over 10 years, an insurance agent, farmer and farmland owner. He also owned and managed over 40 rentals in Ada, OH. He was a 1959 graduate of Vanlue High School and a graduate of Heidelberg, The Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a Master in Education Degree. Following teaching, he became a full-time farmer in the Ada area. He then rented ground to a local farmer. John was a board member of the Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District, was an organizer of the Ada Adult Farmers and member of the Hardin County Farm Bureau.
John grew up on a small family farm in Seneca County growing field crops, vegetables, and raising sheep. They also had a small seed business that was an early producer of hybrid seed corn. He spent over 30 years as a seed inspector for the Ohio Seed Improvement Association. He was awarded Honorary Chapter Farmer from both Ada and Hardin Northern FFA Chapters and was an alumnus of the Alpha Gamma Sigma Agricultural Fraternity. He served as an Ada Exempted Village Schools Board of Education member for 20 years and served as Vice President. He was a member of The Buckeye State Mutual Insurance President’s Club, F&M Picnic Board, Apollo Career Center Board of Education, Hardin County Ohio State Alumni Association, and a member of the Hardin County Community Foundation. He also established the Saltzman Rentals Scholarship Fund at Ohio Northern University.
John had a love of family, farming, country and Ohio State Football. He showed leadership in family, community, and business. Helping others to grow in their own leadership in life and business was his mission. He was proud to have started a business from nothing and be able to share in its operation and growth with family.
