Berks
County
Conservation District
Annual Awards
Banquet
Berks County
Conservation District
Farmer of the Year
Tim Kurtz ~ Kurtland Farms
Tim and Deborah Kurtz and
their family own & operate a
third generation dairy farm
The operation presently
consists of 425 Cows,
350 Replacements
and 300 Crop Acres
Kurtland Farms is located in
Caernarvon Township
Berks County
Conservation District
Erosion Control Plan Designer
of the Year

Karen Krater



Earned a Bachelor of Science
in Landscape from Penn
State.
As a registered Landscape
Architect Karen has won
several awards from the
National Paver Institute &
local garden clubs.
Employed at John Hoffert
Surveying, responsible for
all Erosion and Sediment
Control projects.
Serves as Chair of the
Millcreek Township
Planning Commission;
President of the Community
Center Board; member of
the Newmanstown Fire
Company Ladies Auxiliary
Berks County
Conservation District
Contractor of the Year
Barwis Construction LLC
 Founded in January 2004, Barwis is
a land development / site-work
contractor located in Berks County
 Offer full service land development
packages for commercial,
government, subdivisions,
PENNDOT and
residential
projects
Barwis
Construction
believes in going
the extra mile
when it comes to
natural resource
conservation
Berks County
Conservation District
Conservation Individual
of the Year
Kimberly Fies
INSERT PHOTO HERE
 Worked in the conservation field
close to 20 years; starting with water
quality sampling then advancing to
do Chesapeake Bay Program
implementation & Tulpehocken
Creek Watershed coordination.
 Served as the County’s biosolids
land application monitor, provided
farm plans for the mushroom
industry & managed several grant
projects.
 Worked with the Natural Resources
Conservation Services to develop
conservation plans and install best
management practices.
 Since 2009, has annually monitored
over 650 farms in the Berks County
Agricultural Land Preservation
Program to ensure they maintain
compliance with the
easement.
Berks County
Conservation District
Conservation Group
of the Year
Kutztown Future
Farmers of America (FFA)
Left to Right
Kristy Heffner, President
Trinity Hamm, Vice President
Barron Kistler, Reporter
Meghan Glover, Member
Celeste Ball, FFA Advisor
Bottom Row - Left to Right:
Alya Blatt, Calliope Yoffe, Jacob Fairchild,
Justin Fairchild , Kyle Lubak
Top Row - Left to Right:
Frank Mohr, Meghan Glover, Jamie Sieffert,
Barron Kistler, Trinity Hamm
Project in Kutztown PA
September 2013
“Before”
November 2013
“After”
Berks County
Conservation District
Conservation Group
of the Year
Reading Environmental
Advisory Council (EAC)
Pier Ignozzi-Shaffer
David Beane
Barbara Cole
Callie White
Andrew Molteni
 Hold quarterly Rain Barrel workshops throughout the City of Reading
 Participates in the Smart Growth Alliance to foster future land use and
development in accordance with sustainable principles
 Drafting an amendment to the City’s Zoning Ordinance to address
Alternative Energy to promote and regulate the use of geothermal, solar,
wind, hydro and biomass systems
 Provided input on the City’s Municipal Separate
~ Members Not Pictured ~
Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) permit
Cathy Curran-Myers
City Employees: Shelly Katzenmoyer-Deputy City Clerk
Deborah Hoag-Environmental Division Mgr.
Berks County
Conservation District
Outstanding Achievement
of the Year
Berks County Jail System
The jail takes pride in various innovative
conservation efforts and practices:
 RAIN BARRELS
are painted and constructed by jail
maintenance staff & inmates used in the
Rain Barrel
Conservation District’s rain barrel program.
 IN-VESSEL COMPOSTER SYSTEM
has been constructed; the system mixes pre
and post consumption food waste, leaves,
tree trimmings and grass clippings from the
jail campus. This was an effort to help
reduce the amount of waste material going
to landfills.
 HOMEMADE SAWMILL
is used to cut wood from trees that have fallen
or been removed from County property. Some
cut wood was used to replace the old
deteriorated floor boards in the Heister
Composter
mansion barn.
Sawmill
Berks County
Conservation District
Scholarship Recipients
$4,000
Berks County Conservation
District Scholarship Recipient
MATTHEW BEEKMAN
Matthew Beekman
Freshman at Delaware
Valley College,
Environmental Science
with a minor in
Agribusiness
Member of Collegiate FFA,
Horticultural Club,
Outdoor Club and Rock
Climbing Club
Grew up on his family
farm, representing the 4th
generation of the family
business
$1,200
Berks County Conservation
District Scholarship Recipient
AUSTIN STOUDT
Austin Stoudt
Senior at Conrad
Weiser high school,
focusing on science
Will be attending
Kutztown University as
Biology major this fall
Interests include being
a musician, martial arts
– has achieved a 2nd
degree black belt
$1,000
Berks County Conservation
District Scholarship Recipient
ZACHERY ZIMMERMAN
Zachery Zimmerman
 Senior at Muhlenberg
High School
 Plans to attend SUNY
(State University of New
York) Cobleskill campus,
NY to major in Animal
Science
 Interests include hunting,
fishing, and hopes to one
day own and operate a
farm raising Texas
Longhorn cattle
$500
Berks County Conservation
District Memorial
Endowment Scholarship
Recipient
TYLER PARR
Tyler Parr
Senior at Oley Valley High
School
Will attend Penn State
Berks, major in Agriculture
Business
Interests include marching
band, concert band, stage
crew, track and field, and
church activities, hunting,
hiking
Worked at Hawk
Mountain Scout
Reservation as a council to
cub scouts and a cub
nature assistant director
$500
Solon Phillips Memorial
Scholarship Recipient
CALLISTA MILLER
Callista M. Miller
A senior honor student at
Oley Valley High School
Plans to attend Penn
State University majoring
in Food Science &
Technology with a focus
in Food Chemistry or
Food Engineering
President of the Oley
Valley FFA , member of
the National Honor
Society, Tri-M (music
honor society), German
Honor Society, a violist in
the Reading Symphony
Youth Orchestra
$1,000
Pomona Grange in
Memory of Henry Bohn
Scholarship Recipient
ASHLEY MOHN
Ashley Mohn
Sophomore at Delaware
Valley College, majoring in
Dairy Science, minors in
Ag Business and Media,
Communications
A member of Sigma Alpha,
a sorority for agriculture
women, Collegiate 4-H and
FFA, and Dairy Society
Dream job is promoting the
dairy industry by working
in the public relations or
marketing design unit of
either a dairy processing
plant or a business in the
dairy industry
$1,000
Pine Creek Watershed
Association
Scholarship Recipient
BRITTA SCHUMACHER
Britta Schumacher
Junior studying
Geography at Penn State
and the Schreyer Honors
College
Research interests lie at
the interface of parks
and people
Traveling to Tanzania
this summer to study
and to complete her
thesis research on the
impacts of climate
change on agriculture in
Mang'ula, TZ
$800
Steven “Eldridge” Skelly
Memorial Scholarship
Recipient
Catharine Scoboria
Catharine Scoboria
Senior at Berks Catholic
High School
Plans on attending Penn
State to study
mechanical engineering
Involved with the
Reading Berks Science
and Engineering Fair for
6 years, this is the second
year she won Reserve
Champion
 She is involved in the
National Honor Society,
Peer Listeners, and
Student Ambassadors
Berks County
Conservation District
Reading Berks Science
Fair Special Award

Schuyler is a student at
Governor Mifflin

Her project is titled:
Don’t Muddy
the Water:
The Effect of Ground Cover
on Soil Erosion
Schuyler Osgood
Thank You!
Agricultural Team
Urban Team
Directors
Operations Team