(Posted March 22, 2023)
The London Rotary Club is once again hosting their annual Rural-Urban Day Breakfast.
This year’s event will be held at 7:30 a.m. March 30 at the Madison County Senior Center. Breakfast is provided free of charge to the public. The guest speaker is Donna Quilter, program technician for the USDA Farm Service Agency.
After Quilter’s presentation, the Rotary Club will honor Dave Peart as this year’s recipient of the Joe Yoder Award.
Yoder was a lifelong farmer and a strong advocate for farmers in the community. He was also a member of the London Rotary Club and dedicated to the ideal of “Service Above Self.” Since Joe’s death in 2008, the club has presented the Joe Yoder Award to a deserving member of the agricultural community:
• who has made a significant contribution to agriculture in Madison County;
• who has preservation of the land for the future as an ultimate goal;
• who has a strong reputation in the agricultural community; and
• who has agriculture as a significant source of their livelihood.
David Peart has spent his life in service to the city of London and to Madison County. He and his brothers grew up farming the family land and incorporated as Peart Farms in 2001. He has been instrumental in increasing crop production and maximizing revenue in the county through proper irrigation, drainage, and streamlined harvesting procedures.
Peart graduated from Madison-Plains High School in 1976 and immediately began working for the United States Postal Service in London, as well as continuing on the farm. He and his wife, Cheri, raised their family in Madison County where their girls attended Madison-Plains.
After nearly 40 years, Peart retired from the postal service to spend more time with his family and concentrate on the farm. He has proven himself to be an exceptional steward of the land.
Sponsors for the 2023 Rural Urban Day are Chaney & Thomas, Madison Health, Becks Hybrids, Eberle Fisher Funeral Home, Edward Jones, Boerger Farms LLC, Mike Wilson-Coughlin Auto, London Health & Rehab, Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Savion Energy, Merchants National Bank, Rocking Horse, EDF Renewables, Weichert Realtors, and Bricker & Eckler.
