ML Chamber names honorees at banquet

MOSES LAKE — Three farm families were inducted into the Moses Lake Ag Hall of Fame and Samaritan Healthcare received the President’s Award at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce banquet Tuesday night.

Vern Sandmann, Paul Klingeman Sr. and Paul Klingeman Jr., and the late Leloyd Pearce were the 2017 Ag Hall of Fame inductees. Sue Tebow received a special award for her blog, which tells the stories of farmers, ranchers, growers, employees and families in the agriculture industry.

Sandmann comes from a farming family and has been growing hay and alfalfa (and sometimes raising cattle) in Moses Lake for 51 years. “He’s a friend to many, many people in this town,” said his son Mike.

Sandmann was involved in youth activities, coaching teams for his kids, and served 10 years on the Moses Lake School Board. “He loves very much working with kids,” Mike Sandmann said. And it’s more than kids. “Dad has always believed in helping others.”

Paul Klingeman Sr. and his son Paul Jr. are partners in Pure Country Park Farms, which grew out of Paul Sr.’s high school FFA projects, said his daughter Laura Smith. The Klingeman family also owns Pure Country Harvest, a meat processing facility they purchased in 2015.

The family made a commitment to free-range and sustainable farming practices, Laura Smith said. “Their entire lives have been dedicated to agriculture.” And they have a commitment to the community as well, supporting FFA and 4-H and many charitable organizations, from local fire departments to Shriners Hospital, Laura Smith said.

Leloyd Pearce came to the Moses Lake area with his family in 1961; he was already an experienced dairy farmer. Pearce was committed to improving his herd, said longtime friend Dean Campbell. “His cattle were some of the best in the country.” He was dedicated to dairy farming, so much so that he had turned down a scholarship to study veterinary medicine, Campbell said.

Pearce wanted to people to know what it took to run a dairy farm, giving tours of his historic property and supporting dairy exhibitions at the Grant County Fair, to the extent of donating some of the equipment. Pearce also supported young people, reducing the price for kids who wanted to buy a dairy cow and watching the kids show the animal.

Pearce sold his farm in 1990, and died in 2006. “By the way, one of his grandsons is a veterinarian,” Campbell said.

Tebow received a special award for her agri.CULTURE project. Tebow travels farm country, taking pictures and letting people in the ag industry speak for themselves. The pictures and quotes are posted on the project’s Facebook page and Instagram account. Tebow said she sees the project’s goal as introducing farmers, ranchers and agriculture to non-farmers.

Outgoing Chamber president Anne Fisher said that when she thought about the recipients of the President’s Award, “one (business) came to mind.” Samaritan Healthcare works to better its employees and its business, and works to better the community also, Fisher said.

“Thank you so much for this honor. This is awesome,” said Samaritan chief executive officer Teresa Sullivan.

“There is so much potential here,” Sullivan said, and that’s one reason she chose to move to Moses Lake.

Michaelle Boetger was named the Ambassador of the Year. The ambassadors are volunteers that help out at Chamber events.