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Farm Bureau honors two with Distinguished Service AwardsOklahoma Oklahoma Farm Bureau honored two leaders during its 68th annual meeting in Oklahoma City with Distinguished Service Awards. The pair of awards is designed to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to agriculture and to Oklahoma Farm Bureau, according to Monica Wilke, executive director. Oklahoma FFA Executive Secretary Kent Boggs and former OFB Executive Director Matt Wilson were honored Nov. 6 during a special awards program in the Cox Convention Center. Boggs was presented with the Distinguished Service to Oklahoma Agriculture Award while Wilson received the Distinguished Service to Oklahoma Farm Bureau Award. Boggs has served agriculture for more than 30 years as an educator and motivator for young people. He began his career as an agricultural education instructor at Elgin Public Schools, where he spent eight years molding his students into successful competitors and leaders by helping them realize their potential. In 1985, he was named Oklahoma FFA's executive secretary. He has served in that capacity ever since by working tirelessly and closely with all happenings of the Oklahoma FFA Association. Under his leadership, Oklahoma FFA has grown to the fifth largest in the nation with 355 chapters and some 24,000 members. Boggs is solely responsible for coordinating the Oklahoma FFA Convention, which is one of the largest and most impressive youth events in the state. He also manages all FFA Career Development Events, FFA Alumni Leadership Camp, and activities of the state officer team. He has led and advised 25 state officer teams during his tenure, helping to develop those young people into successful businessmen and women. In addition to his responsibilities as executive secretary, he also spends much of his time working at the Oklahoma Youth Expo and the Tulsa State Fair. He also is an active member of the Sirloin Club and Southwest American Livestock Foundation. "It is difficult to gather and put into writing all of the accomplishments of Kent Boggs," said his nomination form. "He is professional in every sense of the word and exudes the highest standards of morality and integrity possible. Simply put, Kent Boggs has dedicated his life to agriculture and preparing young people to be its future leaders." Wilson retired as the executive director of OFB last July, with more than 30 years service to Farm Bureau in Kentucky and Oklahoma. He came to OFB in 1990 as the field services director after spending almost 12 years as a field service representative for Kentucky Farm Bureau. As OFB's field services director, programs Wilson initiated assisted the organization's staff and volunteer leaders as they moved the organization from about 80,000 to 100,000 members. He was responsible for instituting an exclusive program offering substantial discounts on goods and services for members only. During his tenure with Oklahoma he served under five different OFB presidents, and the organization grew to more than 172,000 member families. Wilson said he is most proud of the quality of staff, membership growth and enhancements to the image of the organization during his tenure. He instituted the county loan program in 1997, which has loaned more than $12.2 million to 54 county Farm Bureaus for building improvements. Contributions to youth livestock premium auctions, college scholarships, FFA and 4-H and the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association grew substantially during his tenure. The OFB Legal Foundation and OKAgFund also were established during his career. Wilson grew up on a farm near Georgetown, Ky. He graduated Georgetown College in 1976 with a degree in accounting. Immediately prior to coming to Oklahoma, he was executive director of the Kentucky College Savings Trust. He said Farm Bureau is a grassroots, family oriented organization and when people are searching for something to believe in that "they know Farm Bureau supports those values."
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