Skip to main content

VT Dairy Industry Association begins search for 2018 John C. Finley Award recipient

December 6, 2018
Joe Tisbert, President of Vermont Farm Bureau receives the 2017 John C. Finley Award from Kate Finley Woodruff at the Vermont Dairy Industry Association’s Annual Dairy Banquet at the Vermont Farm show on February 1, 2018

Joe Tisbert, President of Vermont Farm Bureau receives the 2017 John C. Finley Award from Kate Finley Woodruff at the Vermont Dairy Industry Association’s Annual Dairy Banquet at the Vermont Farm show on February 1, 2018

November 30, 2018 / Randolph, VT - The Vermont Dairy Industry Association has begun its search for the 2018 recipient of the John C. Finley Award.  This honor will be bestowed at the Dairy Farmers’ Banquet at the Vermont Farm Show on Thursday, January 31, 2019.

John Finley was a respected agricultural educator and a very enterprising and capable Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture before his untimely death.  The award given in his honor seeks to recognize an up and coming individual who meets similarly high standards of character and service to agriculture.

The qualifications to be met by the recipient of this award are as follows:

      1.  Must exhibit the outstanding character and mental vigor exemplified by John Finley.

      2.  Must have recently performed a distinguished service to Vermont Agriculture.

      3.  Must have the potential of continuing to contribute to Vermont Agriculture.

Your cooperation in helping to identify this year’s recipient is greatly appreciated.  A brief letter of nomination explaining how the nominee meets the qualifications for the award should be submitted to me in writing at Vermont Cheese Council, PO Box 165, Randolph, VT 05060 NO LATER THAN MONDAY DECEMBER 30, 2018.  Submission by e-mail at tom@vtcheese.com will also be accepted. 

All suggested candidates’ names will be held over for future consideration for a period of two (2) years.

Previous Finley Award recipients are listed below.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 802-451-8564.

Finley Award Recipients

  • 1977 Henry V. Atherton
  • 1978 J. Douglas Webb
  • 1979 Rupert Chamberlain
  • 1980 Norman Harvey
  • 1981 Catherine Beattie
  • 1982 Robert Foster
  • 1983 Gloria Conant
  • 1984 Donald F. George
  • 1985 George M. Dunsmore
  • 1986 Timothy F. Buskey
  • 1987 Austin C. Cleaves
  • 1988 K. Stewart Gibson
  • 1989 Lloyd H. Patterson
  • 1990 William D. Davis
  • 1991 Robert/Tay Simpson
  • 1992 Kate Finley Woodruff
  • 1993 Byron D. Moyer
  • 1994 Armand Dragon
  • 1995 Harold J. Howrigan      
  • 1996 Perry W. Hodgdon
  • 1997 Andy Dykstra
  • 1998 Andrew Meyers
  • 1999 Leon J. Berthiaume
  • 2000 Louise H. Calderwood
  • 2001 A. John Bramley
  • 2002 Jane Clifford
  • 2003 Teresa Doyle
  • 2004 Dr. Karen Plaut
  • 2005 Leon Graves
  • 2006 Diane Bothfeld
  • 2007 Allison Hooper
  • 2008 Jackie Folsom
  • 2009 Wanda Emerich
  • 2010 Enid Wonnacott
  • 2011 Dan Scruton
  • 2012 Robert Parsons
  • 2013 Thomas Gates
  • 2014 Greg Lockwood
  • 2015 Dr. Julie Smith
  • 2016 Roger Allbee
  • 2017 Joe Tisbert