HONESDALE, PA — For over 20 years, Wayne County Historical Society has honored a local farmer each year on the first day of the Wayne County Fair by bestowing the “WCHS Ag Award”. …
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HONESDALE, PA — For over 20 years, Wayne County Historical Society has honored a local farmer each year on the first day of the Wayne County Fair by bestowing the “WCHS Ag Award”. This year, Bonnie and Mark LaTourette of Oregon Township, Wayne County, will be the award recipients. The ceremony will take place at 6:00pm on Friday, August 2, at the Farm Museum at the Fairgrounds. All those who have paid to enter the fairgrounds are invited to attend this free celebration. Friends and family members are welcome to celebrate with Bonnie and Mark!
Both Mark and Bonnie have spent their lives in agriculture. Bonnie LaTourette was raised on a dairy farm in Wayne County, she graduated from Western Wayne High School, and had already become familiar with farming as she worked on her family’s farm and raised several cows during her high school years. After high school, she married Mark LaTourette who was also raised on a Wayne County dairy farm, and they combined their animals to begin a dairy herd on Mark’s newly-acquired farm in Oregon Township. Since that beginning, Bonnie and Mark have continued farming their entire adult lives. They own their farm in Oregon Township, where they raise animals, do all the regular farm chores, put in crops in the spring, and harvest the hay and corn during the summer and early fall. They are busy Wayne County farmers!
They started with a dairy herd, then transitioned to beef cows years later. They currently also board animals for other farmers. They concentrate on having a happy family life on their farm where they raised four children, two boys and two girls. They now have seven grandchildren, and are wonderful grandparents to these grandchildren. Bonnie is an active member of her church, and puts aside some time for her church and her beliefs every day. Bonnie worked at part-time jobs during some years, in addition to raising her family and working the farm, and has also been a school bus driver for many years. She loves children and enjoys having them help with farm chores and household chores. Bonnie says, “I love what we are doing. We are very happy raising the beef that we raise, and boarding cattle for other farmers.”
Mark has also worked at many jobs in addition to his farm work, and knows agriculture and farming very well. In addition to the important work on their farm, Bonnie and Mark have had a total of 63 foster children in their home beginning from the year 2004. They now turn their attention to their seven grandchildren, but they did have a meaningful impact on the lives of many foster children for many years.
Bonnie is a member and committee leader of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. She was named the “Pennsylvania Outstanding Woman in Agriculture” in January, 2024, by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee. She was excited to receive this state-wide award, and enjoys her work with the Farm Bureau. Bonnie says, “I love what we are doing. We are very happy raising the beef that we raise, and boarding cattle for other farmers.”
Bonnie has developed a program emphasizing Farm Safety, which is a special interest in Bonnie’s life, and to that end she has created a table-top display of a working farm, with toy farm machines, miniature farm buildings, and miniature farm hazards that viewers are challenged to find in the table display. Bonnie travels to agricultural events and presents the brochures and engages those attending to think about farm safety by using her display. Accidents on farms can be prevented if the farmers get this type of information.
Congratulations to Bonnie and Mark LaTourette for their successful years in Wayne County agriculture, and for their outstanding leadership and especially their work with children. Wayne County Historical Society is proud to present the “2024 Ag Award” to this farming couple!
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