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LITTLE ROCK — Farmer Jeff Rutledge was
honored as the first recipient of the Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award.
Arkansas Farm Bureau created the award in honor one of its past
presidents. Rutledge accepted the award from Reed’s widow Charlene and
his son Nathan Thursday during Farm Bureau’s 77th Annual Conference at
the Peabody Hotel and Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
The award goes to an active member, 36 to 45 years old, for
outstanding leadership within their county Farm Bureau and community.
Rutledge, of Newport (Jackson County) is a former Young Farmers &
Ranchers state president, a former Jackson County Farm Bureau president
and presently serves on the USA Rice Council board of directors and is
membership chairman of the Jackson County Farm Bureau board.
Rutledge takes home a $5,000 Farm Bureau Bank Certificate of Deposit.
“I’m very humbled to be given an award that even has his
name on it. I felt very blessed to even have known Stanley and been a
recipient of the interest and helping hand he took in developing young
leaders,” Rutledge said. “This is quite an honor.”
Stanley Reed was president of Arkansas Farm Bureau from
2003-2008. He died in an automobile accident one-car crash last July.
“On behalf of the Reed family, I want to thank you for the
creation of the Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award. Stanley loved Farm
Bureau more than you can imagine,” said Charlene Reed.
“Improving agriculture, and working through Farm Bureau to
make that happen, was his life’s work. He also had a passion for
mentoring young people; helping them to learn and grow in ways that
helped them, and ultimately others.
“There is no better way to combine two of Stanley’s passions than to create a leadership award in his name,” she concluded.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) also
announced at the convention its new Stanley E. Reed Memorial Chair in
Emergency Medicine, Trauma & Injury Prevention. Reed also served as
chairman on the University of Arkansas board.
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