CELERYVILLE, Ohio A flagpole erected at the Muck Crops Agricultural Research Station, south of Willard in Huron County, Ohio, carries a special meaning for growers who raise vegetables in the areas fertile black soils.
The flagpole was dedicated at the station last April 29 in memory of Charles (Chuck) Hanline Jr., who died Sept. 18, 2005, in a plane crash. The executive vice president of John F. Stambaugh & Co. Inc. (an onion and potato grower-shipper based in Plymouth, Ohio) and an owner in Stambaugh Packaging, Hanline was a neighbor, colleague and friend of Celeryville area producers.
The Muck Crops farm is one of 10 outlying agricultural research stations operated by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) throughout the state. It addresses production, pest management and other issues facing vegetable crop growers in north-central Ohio.
When OARDC developed a new shop, office and laboratory facility at the Muck Crops station over a year ago, the local growers wanted to be involved in some way. The flag pole not only memorializes Chuck Hanline, but also shows the value that the local growers receive from the research station,said Ken Scaife, assistant to the OARDC director for research operations.
In addition to the flagpole, local growers also donated tables and chairs to the Muck Crops station to be used for meetings, field days and other events.
Huron County ranks No. 1 in Ohio in vegetable production and 99th out of all U.S. counties comprising almost 10 percent of the 47,000 acres dedicated to vegetable crops in the state and boasting some of the nations largest vegetable operations.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio States College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
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