NEWS RELEASE – PREPARED BY Meg E. Overocker
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION – Bureau, LaSalle, Marshall, Putnam Unit
LaSalle County Resident Joe Temple Receives “Friend of Extension” Award
On Saturday November 2nd, 2019, Mr. Joe Temple of LaSalle County was honored by the University of Illinois Extension, friends, and family at the University of Illinois Extension Education Center and Community Teaching Kitchen located in LaSalle. Joe received a “Friends of Extension” award as a recognition of his support of the 4-H program, the Master Gardener program, and Extension as a whole. His many decades of service have positively impacted the communities and community members of LaSalle County.
Joe’s service to Extension spanned several decades, beginning as early as 1929 when he joined 4-H as a youth member. Since that time, Joe served as a club leader for the Serena Junior 4-H club for 12 years, and served on the 4-H Advisory Committee. Every year Joe also sponsors trophies at the LaSalle County 4-H Fair in memory of his late wife, Dorothy.
In addition to his involvement with 4-H, Joe also became a Master Gardener volunteer in 1993. For a time he served as the Master Gardener Program Coordinator. In 1997, Joe won the “State Outstanding Master Gardener Award”, followed by the “Sustained Master Gardener Award” in 1999. Joe also received awards for over 3,000 hours of volunteer service in 2004, and over 10,000 hours of volunteer service in 2012. In October, 2018, Joe was given a 25 Years of Service Recognition Award. Joe has contributed to Extension in other ways as well – writing articles for the Over the Garden Fence section in the Ottawa Times for 12 years, and in many other quiet ways.
Congratulations and thank you, Joe, for your dedication to and belief in Extension over these many decades!
The Mission of the University of Illinois Extension is to provide practical education you can trust to help people, businesses, and communities solve problems, develop skills, and build a better future. The University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. Visit our website at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/blmp/
For more information, call Meg Overocker, Extension Program Coordinator, at the LaSalle County Extension Office, 815-433-0707.