Attired in blue corduroy jackets accented with the corn gold embroidered FFA emblem on the back, Pendleton County FFA members recognized Trey Keyser and Ron Hudson during their annual banquet held May 17 in the D. Michael Roberts auditorium at Pendleton County High School.
Honorary membership is bestowed upon individuals who are helping to advance agricultural education and the FFA and who have rendered outstanding services. Honorary chapter membership was presented to Keyser.
Keyser grew up on a seventh generation family farm raising and showing sheep and cattle. His family also operated two broiler chicken houses and farmed 450 acres of corn, soybeans, and hay crops. Their farm was located alongside the Shenandoah River where they also operated Dam Acres Campground.
He graduated from Page County High School and attended Virginia Tech. He was an active member of Block and Bridle, Young Farmers, and Alpha Gamma Rho. He graduated in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree in agricultural education and minors in animal and poultry sciences and crop and soil environmental sciences.
He was very active in 4-H and FFA throughout his youth career and earned numerous awards. Some of his most prestigious FFA awards include 1997-1998 Virginia state secretary, a member of the National FFA nominating committee, earning his American FFA Degree, three Honorary Chapter Degrees, and his West Virginia Honorary State Degree.
Not only was he active in the agricultural sector growing up, but he found a passion for fighting fire. He was a member of the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department for eight years and traveled with the Page County Hot Shot Crew who were detailed to 19 different locations across the country to fight wild fires.
Keyser has been employed by Farm Credit of the Virginias for 22 years where he is a senior loan officer.
He has been a strong supporter of South Branch Valley Ham, Bacon, and Egg sales.
He enjoys attending all the fairs, being a local buyer, and supporting the kids at the livestock sales. In addition to purchasing animals at fairs, he, along with other Farm Credit employees, are present and pass out t-shirts at local and state events.
At the Tri-County Fair, he helps with the barn party, heads up the lamb and goat obstacle course, oversees the meat carcass contest, and helps sponsor the awards for the premier exhibitors.
He enjoys volunteering and hosting judging practices for students to participate in while prepping for contests.
Each year he presents the Farm Credit Record Keeping Award to an outstanding member of the Pendleton FFA chapter.
During the FFA Regional Scholastic contest, he donates his time to come serve as a judge. He graciously offered his zero-turn mower and his yard in which he set up a practice course to help members prepare for the state tractor driving contest.
Since his oldest daughter is a current member of the chapter, he has expanded his duties which include helping pull the FFA officers through the Treasure Mountain Festival parade, dressing up as the Grinch at the Regional FFA Christmas Party, and serving as a chaperone for the upcoming State FFA Convention.
He is a member of Mt. Hope Lutheran Church, West Virginia Farm Bureau, the National and WV Cattlemen’s associations, and the WV Purebred Sheep Breeders Association. He also serves on the WV Beef Industry Council, is the sale committee chairman for the Tri-County Fair, and is very active with the Mountain State Show Series.
He enjoys hunting, fishing, and eating a good marbled rib eye along with some crab legs.
Keyser resides in Upper Tract with his wife, Kami, and two daughters, Katie and Kallie. He runs stocker cattle on pasture each summer and helps out with farm chores on the 3M Cattle Company Farm. In addition to the beef cattle operation, he and his family own and operate Keyser Sisters Show Lambs where they own a flock of 30 ewes and raise club lambs. They have shown successfully on the local, state, and national levels.
Hudson, chapter advisor and agriculture teacher who is retiring after 30 years at Pendleton County Middle/High School, was also honored. A video and a tribute to Hudson was presented by the chapter officers, Sam Eason, Cole Harper, Katie Heavner, Ty Heavner, Katie Keyser and Jessica Parker.
“And on the ninth day, after God made a farmer, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need somebody to educate people about the land and ways of the world.’ So, God made an Ag Teacher.
God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, check on agricultural projects, go to school, argue with Missy about retiring without her, teach kids, get yelled at by Janice, and of course us, eat supper, go back to town and stay past midnight at the Ham, Bacon & Egg Show and Sale.’ So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Ronald H. Judson, Jr., is an agriculture teacher and CTE director at Pendleton County Middle-High School, where he teaches students in grades 7 -12. He covers a wide range of topics like forestry, horticulture, livestock, ag mechanics, and animal science. With over 20 years of experience, he’s passionate about helping students succeed and grow as leaders.
God said, ‘I need somebody who can teach about crop production, livestock evaluation, welding horticulture, tractor restoration, wildlife management and veterinary technology. And…who, during leadership events, stock shows and career development events can finish their 40-hour week by Tuesday noon. Then paining from back pain, lack of sleep and unbalanced meals, pit in another 72 hours.’ So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Mr. Hudson was born in 1970 and lived in South Wales, New York. He grew up with three siblings and his parents, Ronald and Thelma. Ron graduated from Iroquois Central High School. He earned two associate degrees from the State University of New York at Alfred in animal science and general agriculture. He then earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural education from West Virginia University.
‘I need somebody willing to stay after school to reteach students how to enter in Supervised Agricultural Experiences expenses in their record book for the Millionth time.’ So, God made an Ag Teacher.
God had to have somebody willing to spend long trips away from their families, countless hours working on projects and numerous days away from home going to judging contests, conventions and project shows, all for their students. So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Mr. Hudson now lives in Buffalo Hills with his wife, Jamie. His oldest daughter, Sydney, lives in Fairmont, where she is an elementary school teacher, with her husband, Zack, and son, Jackson. Madison lives in Morgantown, where she is a nurse, with her husband, Davy, and newborn son. Mackenzie is an elementary school teacher and lives in Morgantown. Mr. Hudson now operates a cow-calf operation on his farm in Buffalo Hills.
God said, ‘I need somebody who can be a mentor for the community, with a big heart and a helping hand willing to give the shirt off his back to help a fellow friend or family member…somebody who cares about their students and wants to provide them with the best knowledge possible.’ So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Mr. Hudson started his teaching career in Hedgesville in 1993. Fast forward to February 1995, Franklin High School has a new agricultural teacher, Ron Hudson. Pendleton County welcomed the Yankee with open arms. Now, he thrives in the ag department by running hands-on programs that include a meat processing lab and a greenhouse. As the FFA advisor, he’s helped students earn major awards and recognition on the state and national levels.
It has to be somebody who will write lessons to teach their students each week and remember that learning is by doing…somebody who will train teams, explain to kids about economic trends and current events affecting agriculture, help students apply for scholarships, balance program budgets and promote agriculture to the world…somebody who will unwillingly enter into politics and research new technology all for the sake of improving the industry, as they know it. So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Outside the classroom, Mr. Hudson took full advantage of gaining experience and knowledge by serving as the president of the Regional Ag Teacher Association and by working on the American Degree Application committee. He applied that knowledge and experience to ensure his students and the Pendleton County FFA Chapter were always advancing.
Somebody who will start the weekend at 7 a.m., tend to animals, fix needed machinery, commit to chores, spend time with family and friends and finish the long weekend with a 10-mile drive to church…somebody who’d bale a community and a family together with soft strong bonds of sharing and commitment and when asked, “Is this job really worth all its time?” They’d reply with a smile on their face and a tear in their eye, “Every day I get up, I get to teach kids and God’s creations and ways of the world. I have the best job there is.” So, God made an Ag Teacher.
Thanks to the opportunities Mr. Hudson has given his students, they have been able to accomplish 58 American Degrees, 128 State Degrees, around 30 National Chapter Awards, numerous livestock evaluation teams, countless poultry evaluation awards, tractor driving trophies, various parliamentary procedure teams, multiple national finalists, several land and homesite evaluation awards and so much more.”
