Purdue News
Purdue News
December 12, 1997
Joe and Joyce Peden, Monroe County ; Regena Terrell, Lagrange County ; Becky Swails, Howard County ; and Hank and Betty Lu McGuire, Bartholomew County , each received a plaque and a round of applause for the honor, which marks years of selfless community service, volunteerism and leadership.
Joe and Joyce Peden, Monroe County
Joe has been active in several facets of agricultural life in Monroe County, as a farmer and rancher, as a member of the Ag Land-Use Study Committee to help develop guidelines for the county zoning ordinance, and as a member of the Owen-Monroe Cattleman's Association. He also served as one of the educational speakers for a pasture improvement field day, and he was one of the producer panel members featured in the 1995 Area V Extension Beef Conference. He also is district conservationist for the Monroe County Soil Conservation District and was recently awarded the Master Farmer Award for Monroe County.
As president of the Monroe County Fall Festival, Joe has been a driving force behind this three-day celebration that features a parade with more than 30,000 persons in attendance. He and his wife also developed the Children's Farm Festival, opening their farm gates to nearly 3,000 young people. Both he and Joyce have been active in the County Farm Bureau Inc., working on several committees. She currently serves on the Monroe County board of directors for Farm Bureau Inc., and Joe is a director of the Farm Bureau Co-op.
Active for many years in Extension, Joyce is president of Monroe County Extension Board and past president of the 4-H board of directors. She has been a leader for the Maple Leaf 4-H Club for a number of years and supervises the creative writing 4-H project. She also is a member of the Walk-A-Lot Extension Homemaker Club and the Monroe County Fair Board, and she serves on the Monroe County Fall Festival Committee.
The Pedens were recognized as the 1996 Monroe County Family of the Year. Both their children, Rachel and Philip, were 10-year 4-H members.
Regena Terrell, Lagrange County
Terrell has been an Extension Homemaker member for 23 years, serving two terms as county president and two terms as adviser to the president. She also has served on numerous committees with that organization and currently is chairwoman of the Scholarship and Ladies' Events at the Fair committees.
Terrell has served on state Extension Homemaker committees for cultural arts and membership and public relations. While she was on the health, nutrition and safety committee, she developed a "Be Aware of Look-Alikes" traveling exhibit, a poison-prevention educational tool that has been used at health fairs, county fairs, and a variety of community events. The exhibit has been adopted by other counties.
As breast cancer educator with Extension Homemakers, she has presented the program at 13 Extension Homemaker club meetings, a Farmers' Day celebration and Howe Military School. She also provided the program's educational material for the county nurse's contacts with Amish women. When Terrell arranged for the local hospital to offer Mother's Day mammograms at a reduced rate, the number of mammograms done by that hospital during the promotion period was double the number during the same period the previous year.
Terrell was recognized as 1995 Homemaker of the Year for her commitment to family and community. She is a member of the Women's Financial Information Coalition, helping teach economic independence skills. She has served as her township's representative on the Extension Advisory Council, one term on the Extension Board, and five years on the Purdue-Council for Agricultural Research Extension and Teaching (P-CARET ). She also represents Extension on the Council for Drug-Free Lagrange County, serving as treasurer.
She also has received the Governor's Award for Community Volunteers.
Terrell is a trustee for Lakeland School Corp.'s Dollars for Scholars program and community coordinator with the American Association of Retired Persons. She is board secretary of the Lagrange County Council on Aging and worked on health fairs at the Council on Aging, local hospital and nursing home and volunteered at the well-child clinic. She volunteers weekly at Lima Brighton Elementary School in the assisted learning skills program, and she is a court-appointed special advocate, working one-on-one with children involved in the court system.
A member of the Presbyterian church, she served on the pastoral nominating committee. She is on the Presbytery Board of Mission and Interpretation, which is responsible for allocating mission funding for churches in the presbytery.
Becky Swails, Howard County
Swails has been active in both state and area P-CARET organizations. As state treasurer for P-CARET, she made two trips with the state group to Washington, D.C., to contact legislators. She has served as secretary and chairwoman of the Area VIII P-CARET organization and has worked tirelessly in contacting state legislators from around the area to support statewide funding initiatives and conducting area legislative tours at several sites across her region.
Swails has served six years on the Howard County Extension Board, part of the time as board secretary. She was instrumental in contacting county officials to support funding a third Extension position in Howard County.
Swails has been active with the State 4-H Clothing Curriculum Committee in writing a new curriculum during the past two years.
Swails has been a 4-H leader for the Taylor Friendship 4-H Club for 16 years and has served as adult leader secretary for two years, adult leader vice president for two years and adult leader president for two years. She also has served as 4-H clothing/fashion revue superintendent for 10 years. During her time as clothing superintendent, she helped move the fashion revue from the fair to an indoor, air-conditioned facility.
In addition, Swails has done several 4-H clothing workshops for 4-H youths and volunteered at the county Extension office to help with 4-H enrollment, checking permanent records, pulling manuals for members and answering questions.
Swails has been a leader in other community activities as well. She has been active on the board at Howard Community Hospital, serving Howard, Tipton, and Clinton counties, and she helped with membership drives for the YMCA. She co-chairs the St. Luke's Church Migrant Clothing Program, serving 18 migrant camps in north central Indiana. Her responsibilities include collection, organization and distribution of clothing.
Hank and Betty Lu McGuire, Bartholomew County
Hank and Betty Lu are 25-year owners of McGuire International, with a facility near Columbus and another in Franklin. Hank is manager, and Betty Lu is assistant manager.
Betty Lu is president of the county Extension board. Now in her second term as an elected member of the board, she has served in many leadership capacities.
Betty Lu and Hank have served as Bartholomew County CARET representatives for several years , using their leadership skills to promote Extension to legislators and other groups. Betty Lu was elected as an area representative on the state P-CARET committee for 1997-1998.
Hank also has served as a fair board member in Bartholomew County for four years.
In 1993, Betty Lu and Hank participated in Extension's first Leadership 2000 (L-2000) program for Bartholomew, Brown, Jackson and Jennings counties. In 1994, Betty Lu took a position on the planning committee for the four-county program, and this year she is helping adapt the L-2000 program for youths.
Hank and Betty Lu are active on the Bartholomew County Farm Bureau Board, where he is chairman of the local affairs committee. She serves as women's leader and second vice president and chairs Ag Expo, which brings more than 200 area fifth-graders to the 4-H Community Building to learn about agriculture.
In February 1997 they were selected to go to Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, to help farmers there organize local Farm Bureau boards (similar to American county boards) and counterparts to the state Farm Bureau board and state Farm Bureau convention.
Source: Floyd Branson, (765) 494-8489; e-mail, Floyd_Branson@ces.purdue.edu
Writer: Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; e-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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