The 55th Annual Sycamore Pumpkin Festival was held October 26-30, in downtown Sycamore, IL (DeKalb County). What started as an idea by Wally Thurow in 1956 to offer something creative for local students has grown from a neighborhood display on his front yard into their biggest citywide event. The festival had more than 1,000 entries in the decorated pumpkin competition this year. 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. Orion is heard six days a week on WGN Radio in Chicago, where he has served as Agribusiness Director since 1960. He presents seven stock market/agricultural reports daily on the station and is heard daily on radio stations across the country with his syndicated National Farm Report and Samuelson Sez commentary programs. In addition, Orion and Max Armstrong host the one-hour Saturday Morning Show on WGN Radio and are seen weekly on RFD-TV as co-hosts of This Week in AgriBusiness. Orion’s lifelong commitment to agriculture has been recognized by organizations in all segments of agribusiness. In 1998, the American Farm Bureau Federation honored Senator Robert Dole and Orion with the AFBF Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor. In 1997, Illinois Governor Jim Edgar renamed the State Fair Junior Livestock Building the Orion Samuelson Junior Livestock Building as a tribute to Orion’s decades of service to the agricultural youth of Illinois and the nation. In 2001 the University of Illinois conferred Orion with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters. In 2003, Orion received the highest award in the radio industry when he became the first agribusiness broadcaster to be inducted into the National Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Hall of Famer Paul Harvey presented the award to Orion on the national radio broadcast hosted by Larry King. Orion is also in the Illinois Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Illinois 4-H Hall of Fame, the National 4-H Hall of Fame, the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame and the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Orion has traveled with his television crew to 46 countries to cover agriculture; four of his trips were official agricultural trade missions with the Secretary of Agriculture.
Orion is active outside broadcasting. He is a member of the Farm Foundation Bennett Round Table. In past years, he has served as Chairman of the Board of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation, on the Board of the Agriculture Future of America, a member of the Board of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, a Board member of the Foods Resource Bank, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National 4-H Council, and a Trustee of the Cornerstone Foundation of Lutheran Social Services in Illinois. November 1, 2012, saw the successful launch of Orion’s autobiography, You Can’t Dream Big Enough. On June 27, 2014, Orion was inducted into the WGN Radio Walk of Fame, which can be seen outside the studios of WGN Radio at the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue. In January 2016, Orion was honored with the National Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
