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They Work Together in Henderson County 



All Help Each Other In Serving The Members 



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LET cynics, skeptics, doubting 

 Thomas's and all around "can't 

 be doners" go to the Henderson 

 county Farm Bureau office for a cure. 

 For sheer enthusiasm and the true 

 cooperative spirit Henderson just about 

 takes the prize. 



For example — before the state-wide 

 mobilization campaign got under way, 

 and before the AAA program started, 

 membership had dwindled to a mere 

 350. When the big drive for members 

 started. Otto Steffey was named cap- 

 tain of the team. He quickly gathered 

 40 enthusiastic lieutenants around him 

 and filled them full of the Farm Bu- 

 TPau spirit. He enlisted the support 

 of the Farm Adviser, General agent, 

 and any and everyone else he could 

 talk to. It wasn't long before there 

 was a single idea uppermost in Hen- 

 derson county — new members. Every- 

 one pitched in and when the smoke 

 cleared away, 326 new members had 

 been signed bringing the total up to 

 nearly 700. There are only 1,053 

 farmers in Henderson county so the 

 total speaks for itself. 



This fine record by Otto StefTey 

 stamped him as one of the outstand- 

 ing leaders of the Farm Bureau and 

 his reward, aside from the satisfaction 

 he gained from doing a whale of a job 

 in record time, was in being named as 

 director of the I. A. A. by the Farm 

 Bureau of his district. 



Now all of that may sound as though 

 Otto Steffey was the whole show in 

 Henderson. No one would be quicker 

 to put you right on that score than 

 Otto himself. He would go to great 

 lengths to tell you about the fine re- 

 lationship that exists ' between the 

 Farm Adviser, department managers, 

 AAA officers, and the office staflf. It 

 is common talk around the Farm Bu- 

 reau office at Stronghurst that prac- 

 tically everyone helps do the other fel- 

 low's job. Staff meetings are held 

 each month and everyone is kept well 

 informed and enthused on the Farm 

 Bureau idea and the extension pro- 

 f^ram. At these staff meetings prob- 

 lems are discussed, differences ironed 

 out and then all hands turn to and 

 have a bit of fun out of the evening. 



The Farm Bureau office is the cen- 

 ter of agricultural thought and en- 

 deavor in the minds and hearts of most 

 farmers in Henderson county. In ad- 

 dition to the farm adviser, it houses 

 the AAA offices for the county, insur- 

 ance agency, County Service Company 



HERE THEY ARE AND A HANDSOME SANG TOO 

 Left to right — ^top row: Page Randall, President of the Wheat Production Control Association; 

 Clifford Thompson, general insurance agent; James M. Eyman, manager Service Company; 

 Guy Sanderson, president, Corn-Hog Association. 



Bottom row — left to right: Geo. B. Whitman, Farm Adviser; A. B. Gittings, sec'y-trcas. Corn- 

 Hog Ass'n; Otto Steffey, I. A. A. director from 14th district; H. H. Schweitzer, county organ- 

 ization director. • 



office, and the produce association. 

 Com loan, emergency crop loan, and 

 production credit loan offices are also 

 housed in the Farm Bureau building. 

 It is a busy place on Wednesday and 

 Saturday nights as a combination 

 meeting place and business office. 



Probably the biggest single thing 

 accomplished in Henderson is the 

 spirit of working together. No friction, 

 no cross purp>oses or grievances are 

 permitted. Thru frank discussion and 

 constructive criticism at staff meetings 

 definite understandings of one another's 

 duties and problems are had. The net 

 result is that you find the AAA officers 

 talking up the Farm Bureau program 

 kt every opportunity and tying it in 

 with their own objectives. You find the 

 County Organization Director boost- 

 ing the Farm Adviser's work and vice 

 versa. It surprises nobody to find the 

 Service Company manager out work- 

 ing his head off for the insurance agent 

 and writing memberships for the C. 

 O. D. The general insurance agent is 

 often found selling Soyoil paint and 

 signing new members as he interviews 

 insurance prospects. The Produce 

 manager is well versed in all the de- 

 tails of auto insurance and never fails 

 to try to sell a policy whenever there 

 is an opportunity. 



So it goes in Henderson county 

 where every one does his own job well 

 and helps the other fellow do his. 

 Possibly the secret lies in the fact that 

 Henderson County Farm Bureau mem- 

 bers believe that the parent organ- 

 ization should control the subsidiaries 

 and the program in general. This makes 

 for a central control so that there can 

 be a check if and when the very hu- 

 man trait of trying to "hog the show" 

 might creep into one or another of the 

 various subsidiary organizations. To 

 that end, the Farm Bureau board of 

 directors is the governing body of the 

 whole program. E^ch month complete 

 copies of financial reports, commercial 

 and treasurer's accounts are placed in 

 their hands. Each manager of a sub- 

 sidiary personally reports to the board 

 on finances and services rendered in 

 his department. 



Among some of the reports made 

 during the year is that of the insurance 

 department which showed a decided 

 gain in life insurance, auto, fire and 

 hail insurance for the year. The Serv- 

 ice Company reported gas sales in 

 June to be 107 per cent better than 

 June a year ago, kerosene 77 per cent 

 better, grease 119 per cent better, and 

 miscellaneous sales up 161 per cent. The 

 (Continued on p>age 18) 



D 



AUGUST, 1935 



17 



•V 



