The Wyoming County Chamber & Tourism is pleased to announce tickets are now on sale for the tenth annual “Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Dinner” scheduled for Saturday, March 4, 2017 at the North Java Fire Hall from 6:00PM – 10:00PM.  This year’s event is sponsored by the Glen Iris Inn, located in Letchworth State Park.

The Wyoming County Chamber & Tourism office has again partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County, Wyoming County Farm Bureau, Wyoming County Soil and Water and various members of the agriculture community including farms and agri-businesses to present this exciting sell-out event that celebrates and recognizes agriculture in Wyoming County.  

“We are very pleased to be celebrating a decade of this event, made possible by the great working relationships and partnerships that exist across Wyoming County. We are fortunate to have a strong agricultural sector recognized as a leader in New York and across the nation. We can all take pride in their hard work that provides jobs and value to the nation’s food supply,” said Chamber & Tourism President Scott Gardner. “This dinner is a celebration of everything good and prosperous about the agriculture industry in Wyoming County. We thank everyone who takes part in the dinner and appreciate the support of the many event sponsors.”

The Wyoming County Chamber & Tourism office will once again present the Agri-Business of the Year award, this year to Merle Maple Farm of Attica, NY. Spanning six generations and more than a century, the Merle family has produced maple products, eggs, and raised dairy products.  Currently, Merle Maple Farm has over 16,500 taps from which 6,000-9,000 gallons of pure maple syrup are produced each year. Merle Maple produces and carries an incredible variety of maple products, including maple sugar pieces, maple hard candy, maple granulated sugar, maple spread, maple barbecue sauce, maple hot sauce, maple mustard, maple pepper jelly, maple apple butter, maple pancake mix, maple seasoning, maple coated nuts, maple granola, and even maple dog biscuits. They are very involved in the Maple industry and are a very popular spot to visit on Maple Weekends every spring. They continue to grow in the marketplace and are well respected within their industry. The annual agri-business award is given to a business that exemplifies the following criteria: contributions to the economic vitality and quality of life of Wyoming County, capital investments, business expansions, job growth, community involvement, or for their contributions that strengthen their industry sector.

The event also features the presentation of the Pride of Agriculture - Good Neighbor Award, which is a joint award given by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County and the Wyoming County Farm Bureau.  The award is always kept a secret until the night of the dinner. Past winners of the award include: Ron & Peggy McCormick of Java; Neal Cox of Middlebury; Dana Chamberlain of Wyoming, the Youngers Family of Arcade, Michael Emerling of Perry, Table Rock Farms of Castile, Sivue Farms in North Java, Jeff True of Perry, and the Dziedzic Family from Bliss. Nomination forms for the award are available and people are encouraged to nominate a farm, agriculture business or person that truly exemplifies the qualities of a good neighbor. Nominations will be accepted until February 10th.  Please contact Joan Petzen at Cooperative Extension at 786-2251 for a nomination form or online at www.wyoming.cce.cornell.edu.

The Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Dinner is open to the public and is a sell-out event.  Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased through the Wyoming County Chamber.  Please call 786-0307 for more information or to make a reservation.  You can also reserve tickets online at www.wycochamber.org

The Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park is the 2017 presenting sponsor of the event.  Additional sponsors include: Arc of Livingston-Wyoming; Assemblyman David DiPietro; Attica Auto & Hardware; Bank of Castile; Brad Veley Masonry; Broughton Diversified Farming; Byrncliff Resort & Conference Center; Castile Agway Service; Clark Patterson Lee; Cook Iron Store Co, Inc.; Complete Payroll; Creative Food Ingredients; Dairy Farmers of America (DFA); DeLaval Direct NY; Dziedzic Farms; Elitsac Lumber & Rental Center; Emerling Farms; Erie & Niagara Insurance Assoc.; Everlast Roofing; Farm Credit East, ACA; Farm Family Life Insurance; Five Star Bank; Foote & Meyer, PLLC; Freed Maxick CPAs; Gary Swede, Ind. DeKalb/Asgrow Dealer; George & Swede Sales & Service, Inc.; Genesee Valley Federal Credit Union; Glen Iris Inn; Gramco, Inc.; Green's Hoof Trimming; Growmark FS;  Hubner Seed Co.; Growmark FS; Lamb & Webster; Lincoln Agribusiness Services; McCormick Farms; Morton Salt; NYSEG/RG&E; NAPA Auto Parts; Northridge Homes; Ortel Supply; Perry Vet Clinic; PikeSide Enterprises, LLC; Pioneer Credit Recovery; R.W. Taylor Trucking & Excavating;  Reisdorf Brothers, Inc.; Royce Electric; RTS-Wyoming; S.J.F. Construction; Sedam Tire; Senator Patrick Gallivan; Shur-Gain; Solar Liberty Energy Systems, Inc.; Steuben Trust Company; Table Rock Farms; The Daily News;  Tompkins Insurance Agencies; Upstate Auto Group; Upstate Milk Cooperative; Upstate Door; WCJW Radio; WNY Crop Management; Warsaw Penny Saver; William Kent, Inc.; Wyoming County Ag and Farmland Protection Board; Wyoming County IDA; Wyoming County Soil & Water Conservation District.

 

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