New Beginnings
PRESIDENTIAL PARADIGMS
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia Farm Bureau
It seems winter has arrived. I was hoping the warmth of December would extend into the New Year, but I guess I really knew better. Just think, though – we are only two months away from the official start of spring! As a farmer, I always look forward to spring and the beginning of another growing season.
But, back to the present. We have a lot of things to take care of between now and springtime, not only on our farms, but also on the legislative front. The West Virginia legislative session will take up much of the time between now and spring. We have a number of important issues to be addressed during the session. As always, our policies which were approved by the delegates at our WVFB Annual Meeting will be our guide. This magazine issue is a complete text of those policies. We also have a list of priority issues that your WVFB board voted to focus on. I believe our organization’ s policy positions are well thought-out and express our stand on issues in a very straightforward manner. I applaud the work of so many of our members for helping to formulate these policies. Now is the time to work for implementation of these policies as much as possible. We hope this legislative session will give us the opportunity to do that.
Don’ s departure has led to a search for a new Director of Government Affairs. We are pleased to announce that Dwayne O’ Dell has joined the WVFB team in that position. Dwayne comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience about agriculture and the issues important to us. He, too, had early experience as an ag teacher before joining the Department of Agriculture, where he spent the last 30 years in a variety of positions. He also has first-hand knowledge of agriculture, being involved in his family’ s operation. Dwayne is a man of honesty and integrity and will fit in well at Farm Bureau.
Let me again invite and encourage you to attend our Day at the Legislature and Taste of West Virginia Reception in Charleston on February 9. This is an excellent opportunity to let our legislators know what is important to us, as well as a good chance to get acquainted with Dwayne. Hope to see you there!
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Over the past several years, our lobbying efforts in Charleston have been led by Don Michael, who served as our Director of Governmental Affairs. Don has been a tremendous asset to West Virginia Farm Bureau. He has represented our interests exceptionally well. Don decided to retire at the end of 2015. He devoted a big part of his life in service to agriculture, first as an ag teacher. Don then spent three decades in the West Virginia Department of Education, much of that time as state supervisor of vocational ag and state FFA advisor, before coming to work for Farm Bureau. He has been and continues to be an inspiration and mentor to so many. I wish my dear friends Don and his wife Phyllis all the best.
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