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Jason Vance (Let’s Talk Horses Radio Network, Columbia, MO) began his radio career at KRES (Moberly, MO) while attending the University of Missouri. During a freshman agricultural journalism class, Tom Brand, then the farm director at KFEQ (St. Joseph, MO) was a guest speaker and talked about the radio press corps at the National FFA Convention.
When Mark Lambert (Allied Industry Member, National Corn Growers Association, Chesterfield, MO) read about Sabrina Hill’s second vocation as Mrs. Santa Claus (featured in our December newsletter), he contacted her to relate his own performances as Santa himself. Through the wonders of PhotoShop, Sabrina combined his and her photos to compose this family photo of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.
Despite cold and snowy conditions in mid-December, farm broadcasters at RRFN (Grand Forks, ND) met the challenge. Mike Hergert said, “One thing about people who live here is they expect extreme weather and are prepared for it! The storms have been very well predicted and anticipated.
New NAFB member, Shanna Harris (KKOW, Pittsburg, KS) was born and raised in southeast Kansas. “I grew up on a farm where my dad had row crops and cows. Eventually, he sowed all the row-crop ground to grass and increased his cattle herd size.” Shanna emphasized, “I had a passion for agriculture early on. I loved being on the tractor or out in pastures with my dad.” 
J. Bryan McGarvey (Neuhoff Media, WKOA/WASK, Lafayette, IN) has received a grant from the U.S. State Department to assist in establishing Africa’s first 24-hour agricultural-focused radio station. Bryan was a mentor for the Mandela Washington Fellowship International Reciprocal Exchange Program, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2016, in conjunction with Purdue University.
AgNet West farm news director Sabrina Hill was born just a few hours from the North Pole. North Pole, Alaska, that is. While she may be purely Californian now, every Christmas she channels some of her snowy beginnings, dons red velvet and white fur, and turns into Mrs. Claus.
the next chapter in my life,” said Barry Nelson. “I consider myself very blessed and very fortunate to have had a great career with a great company. I also have had the tremendous opportunity to make great friends outside of Deere, in the industry, the media, and with farmers and ranchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.”
Orion Samuelson and his wife, Gloria, rode in the local parade as Grand Marshal on the final day of the festival. On New Year’s Day 2017, Orion will be alongside the Rose Parade route to co-host with Pam Minick RFD-TV’s live coverage of the parade on January 1.
Andrew McCrea (Farm Journal Media, Maysville, MO) is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his program, American Countryside, this year. What started as a once-a-week program became a daily syndicated show in 2000. He estimates there have been approximately 4,500 broadcast features in that time. Every interview is done on-location. “We have done interviews from all 50 states and six continents,” Andrew said.
Larry Lee (Wisconsin Reporter/Anchor, Brownfield Ag News) said, “My career in broadcasting has been a series of unexpected events. Sometimes, things happen in life where you know God is driving, and we’re just along for the ride. That sums up my radio career.” He was approached by a high school classmate to join him at Brown Institute in Minneapolis after graduation in 1980.