Our own J. Merrill Hallam was recently awarded the Distinguished Service Award for FFA, which is the highest honor you can receive as a supporter of FFA and agricultural education. This is what our own Mrs Brocious and others had to say about Mr. Hallam when he was presented with the award:
"When I grow up, if I ever grow up, I want to be just like J. Merrill Hallam. There is not enough time today to list everything that J.Merrill has done for the Agricultural Education and FFA programs in Nebo School District and for the Utah FFA Association. His legacy is and always will be his generosity of time and effort and the silent financial contributions he makes to every endeavor he touches. Countless turkeys have been delivered to deserving community members and many feed bills have been uncollected and forgotten as he helps just one more student with their SAE. All of these contributions, out of his own pocket, could never be calculated and could never be repaid. So many people owe so much to this man who works silently and tirelessly behind the scenes. J.Merrill has been personally responsible for the design and building of many of the Nebo District Animal Labs, Greenhouses and other CTE labs and buildings. His latest projects include the construction of the Payson High School animal lab in Santaquin and the Springville High School animal lab. To be fair, there were sub-contractors doing the lion share of the work, but J. Merrill was there everyday to check the progress, help where he could and to make sure it was done to his exacting standards. J. Merrill is our Superman! Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail can keep him from his appointed round, even if by the grace of God, he stops 3” short of ending up in a canal when leaving the lab during a snowstorm. Without exception, animals are cared for and buildings are built and maintained because of the tenacity of this man. We could tell stories about J. Merrill for hours, but like he always said, “what happens on the farm, stays on the farm.”
J. Merrill would like to be the silent do-gooder and contributor. He would rather not receive recognition of any kind. But we can’t let that happen. He has done so much for so long that we just have to publicly say, thank you J. Merrill. You are our hero. And when we grow up, if we ever grow up, we want to be just like you."
Congratulations Mr. Hallam!