Langham given Legacy in Agriculture Award

As the Soil and Conservation District’s “Ag extravaganza” slowly wound down, the time came for the organization’s most prestigious award to be distributed. This year’s Legacy in Agriculture Award winning went to Jim Langham for his contributions to local agriculture through his coverage at the Berne Witness and the Van Wert Times Bulletin.

“I was raised with gardening, I was raised around all kinds of these things. I have best friends that are farmers,” stated Langham upon winning his award. “There is nothing that I enjoy writing about more than agriculture and writing about farmers. I like keeping you guys informed about weather and different things that are coming and any story I write about agriculture, I do it from the bottom of my heart.”

Langham joins Darrel Arnold, Fred and Mary Schuman, Charlotte Lindahl and Ardola Burkhart as the awards most recent winners. He received his name on a plaque and a VISA card with intentions that he use it at the Limberlost. His wife, Joyce, made a surprise appearance to watch the award be distributed.

Langham grew up in Ceylon, Indiana, not far from the covered bridge. After he graduated from Berne-French high school, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of attending Fort Wayne Bible College to become a pastor in 1966. He met his wife in 1668 and they were married two years later. They would go on to raise three children. Career-wise, Langham went on to pastor five clapboard-country churches throughout the midwest. He did this for 49 years until he retired in 2017.

Journalism came naturally to the pastor, and he would write for seven newspapers covering news, sports, and agriculture. Inspired by Gene Stratton-Porter, he covers the local farmlands and the Limberlost. He has done stories on the Conservation District, the FFA, the Farm Bureau, and 4-H.

Members present told numerous stories about the writer’s love for all things God and nature, explaining perfectly well the impact that he has left on rural Adams County.