The first inductees took their spots in the hall of fame in 1972
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
When the six-person class of 2022 takes their spots in the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, they will be part of a special celebration.
This weekend’s ceremony will help mark 50 years of celebrating agricultural leaders and innovators in the province.
“Saskatchewan is always proud of its agriculture and our resources,” Linda Braun, an event organizer, told CJWW. “And one of our biggest resources in agriculture that’s renewable is our human resources, so it’s great to celebrate them.”
The work to establish the Sask. Ag Hall of Fame started in 1970.
Gary Carlson, the executive director of the Sask. Federation of Agriculture at the time, organized support for the hall of fame and where it could be housed.
After two years of finding support and organizing a board of directors, the hall of fame inducted its first class in 1972.
That year’s class included James Garfield Gardiner, Saskatchewan’s fourth premier and a former federal minister of agriculture, Violet McNaughton, who helped establish the Women’s Grain Growers Association, and Seager Wheeler, who originated the Early Triumph, Kitchener and Red Bobs wheat varieties, the hall of fame’s website says.
Since then, hundreds of leaders from Saskatchewan’s ag community have been inducted into the hall of fame.
Some notable inductees include:
- Gerry Ritz – former federal minister of agriculture – class of 2020.
- Hugh Duncan McPhail – aerial spraying pioneer – class of 1997.
- Sophia Dixon – who received a Governor General’s award in 1979 for her contributions to the status of rural woman – class of 1993.
- Nancy Adams – former president of the Association of Homemakers’ Club of Saskatchewan – class of 1979.