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4-H Council to
honor Stanislaus County Fair CEO
Turlock--The
Stanislaus County 4-H Council will present their
annual service award tonight to a fair executive for
his leadership role in the Stanislaus County Fair’s
Farm Yard Experience.
4-H
group leaders will gather tonight, Monday,
May 6, at 7:00 p.m.
to plan for their participation at the Stanislaus
County Fair. But,
first on the agenda will be to present their
Annual Meritorious Service to 4-H Award.
Honored tonight will be Anthony
“Tony” C. Leo, chief executive officer of the
Stanislaus County Fair.
The award is presented each year to a community
member, outside of the 4-H organization.
The meeting will be held at the County of
Stanislaus Agriculture Department, Harvest Hall,
located at 3800 Cornucopia Way (just off Crowslanding
Road) in Modesto.
Leo
was selected because of his leadership and
contributions to the Farm Yard Experience at the 2001
Stanislaus County Fair.
“This was a huge project for the 4-H and was
made possible by these two honorees,” explained
Jackie Giesing, of the University California
Cooperative Extension, 4-H program coordinator.
In
addition to Leo, Kathy Rinkenberger, an
agriculture literacy consultant, will be honored.
Rinkenberger is the owner of Ag Experience, a firm
that develops ag in classroom curriculum.
Rinkenberger was also instrumental in the
Farm Yard Experience by providing consulting to the
various interactive displays and activities.
The
Farm Yard Experience
was new to the Stanislaus County Fair in 2001 and
replaced the 4-H Barnyard Nursery.
The 4-H Farm Yard Experience for children
offered learning stations in a hand-on, interactive
environment. The
Farm Yard Experience will return to the Stanislaus
County Fair this year and will include dog obedience,
extracting honey from a bee hive, milking a goat,
sheering a sheep, wool spinning, candle eggs,
separating cream and making butter, and more.
Leo
has served as chief executive officer of the
Stanislaus County Fair since 1998.
Through his leadership, the Stanislaus County
Fair has become one of the few fairs in the entire
state to be distinguished as an “A” fair for its
ability to meet or exceed standards as designated by
the Division of Fairs and Expositions of the
Department of Food and Agriculture.
Leo has been a fair executive for over 20
years.
In addition to his leadership at the local
level Leo is a member of the California Department of
Food and Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Fairs.
He is also a member of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture’s Audit Committee
for California Fairs.
In 2001 he was named Agriculture Leader of the
Year by the Turlock Chamber of Commerce.
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