The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards banquet on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at the Boathouse Wine Company.
Aslin Farms began in 1919 when Ernest and Eva Aslin, Robert's grandfather and grandmother and Nathan's great grandfather and great grandmother had 60 acres of land continuously. Through the years the amount of land added to the farm has greatly expanded.
Robert (Bob) Aslin and Nathan, his son, along with their wives, children, grandchildren, siblings, and extended family play a big part in the success of the Aslin Farm operation.
The Aslin family farm has approximately 2,300 acres. Their crops are made up of corn, soybeans and wheat. and they are also involved in the cattle business owning approximately 100 head. Of course, being smart farmers, they bale all the hay they feed to the cattle.
Some children graduated from school and wanted to move on to what they think are bigger and better thing, but not his family. When Robert was growing up he worked on the farm during the school year and once he graduated, he remained on the farm. Then his son, Nathan, worked on the farm during the school year and when he graduated, he remained on the arm and they have grown the operation to where it is today.
They have continued the heritage that Ernest and Eva Aslin began 104 years ago.
In 2019 the Aslin Family Farm was designated a "Century Farm" by Farm Bureau of Missouri.
It is an honor tonight to award the Bloomfield Chamber Farm Family of the Year to the Aslin Farms.
The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards banquet on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at the Boathouse Wine Company.
Sonja Hobbs was named the Bloomfield Chamber Teacher of the Year.
She has been a valued member of the Bloomfield School staff for 25 years. For 23 years she was a teacher.
Hobbs graduated from the Bloomfield Class of 1992 and then earned an Education Degree at Southeast Missouri State University - Cape Girardeau.
She also obtained a Communication Disorders Degree as well.
The life an educator was a pick that came naturally coming from a family of educators. Her mom taught for thirty years and her dad taught for a brief stint as well. During her time as an educator at her alma mater she has taught kids ranging from Pre-K to the 6th grade. Spending time on 5th grade, Title I Reading, math and small group instruction. These were years where she had the chance to learn from some wonderful mentors.
She has also helped tutor and with the summer school program. her passion for teaching continued in 2018 when Hobbs became certified in a science-based reading program called connections OG in 3D. This program focused on a multisensory structured language approach which helped kids who showed signs of possible dyslexia. This was a life changing training for her, in which she was able to become a dyslexia interventionist.
In her down time though Sonja enjoys spending time with her family. her husband Michael and her son brant who followed in her footsteps to study at Southeast Missouri State University.
In the end Sonja has prepared and worked to perfect her craft to help students these last 25 years.
The Bloomfield Chamber was very excited to give Mrs. Sonja Hobbs the Teacher of the Year Award.
The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the Boat House Wine Co.
Toni Hill, Superintendent of Bloomfield Schools, and a Chamber Board Member, was unable to attend the awards banquet. Mrs. Casey Karnes, middle school principal at Bloomfield Schools, filled in last minute, and presented the Educator of the Year Award.
After moving back to Missouri after an eighteen year stint in Wyoming, Stephanie Young, decided to return to college to obtain her education degree.
However the first hurdle, besides two young children and a long commute daily, was taking the entrance exam into the education program. Standing in line with all the babies fresh out of high school she had never felt so out of place. But clutching her freshly sharpened #2 pencils and an ID that had a birthday significantly preceding any of the people in that line, she forged onward. That led to her education degree after a year and half and the rest is now history.
Stephanie did her student teaching in Sikeston for one block and Bloomfield for the other. After teaching in Bloomfield she decided that the Bloomfield School District was the only place she wanted to work and applied only to Bloomfield. She was working as a rural mail carrier when she received a call about an interview. The day she interviewed was particularly hot and dusty on the route, but fortunately they saw through the pigpen appearance and she received a job offer to teach third grade.
Stephanie spent 18 years teaching third grade and fully expected to retire from that grade level when she received an invitation to teach 6th grade math and science. She planned on turning it down as teaching middle school was akin to war only with more hormones. After much thought and prayer she decided to take the position and was rewarded with a renewed sense of purpose and discovered she loved middle school. She taught 6th grade for 3 years and is currently working as an Interventionist which allows her to work many different grade levels, students, and teachers. She hopes that the students she has had over the years have good memories for the statement "Children won't always remember what you taught them but they will always remember how you made them feel" rings true.
Stephanie currently resides in Dexter although her husband is pushing for Florida. She is married to Jeremiah Young, has two adult daughters and three wonderful grandchildren ages 13, 5 and 1.
Congratulations Stephanie Young, Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year!
The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the Boat House Wine Co.
Amy Haas, Chamber President, presented the 2021 Farm Family of the Year Award.
"Four Generations! That’s a long time! Especially for a whole family to be working together, most people can't even imagine that? This family has been running their operations right here in Bloomfield for four generations and they are still going strong. What a huge accomplishment!!"
"It all began in 1977 when Clellan Stewart, along with his boys, C.D and Gale established CCG Farms. Later in 1988, C.D. and Gale added a second farming entity called Stewart and Stewart farms. Then, their sons Brandon, Collin and Blaine joined the family farm business by establishing Stewco Farms in 2010. Together, this family, and its employees, farm around 7000 acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and rice. The family's most recent addition to the business is Heritage Rice Company which was started in 2020. The family began this business by milling and bagging their own rice. This is a farm to table operation and it is exciting to see their rice at some of our local stores."
"This family, which includes the guys on the farm, their wives, and children have sacrificed so much to ensure they provide excellent products and good food for our tables. Four Generations of farming is a commitment that many would not be willing to make. We know real farming is not an 8-5 job but it consist of long days and late-nights, missing holidays and family gatherings because it's time for a crop to go in or come out and they are trying to beat the weather. These few words don't begin to tell what this family does or tell you what good people they are. We want you to know that your sacrifice is appreciated more than you can imagine. The difference you make and what your family brings to Bloomfield does not go unnoticed. Thank you for what your family has given to this community and an even bigger thank you for providing security to the people you employ."
"With that, I am honored to announce CCG Farms, also known as The Stewart Family, as this year’s Farm Family of the year."
The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce held their annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the Boat House Wine Co.
Karen Griffin, Bloomfield Chamber Board Member, presented the Man of the Year Award.
Every year at this time we pause and look at our community to see a fitting person to honor as Man of the Year. This man has served the City of Bloomfield diligently in several areas of our community.
He has served as Stoddard County Road District Commissioner Board for over 10 years and Housing Authority Board Member for over 1 year.
This man spent several weeks and months a year in making the Bloomfield Country Club what it is today. His work on the golf course has made it one of the premier 9-hole courses in Southeast Missouri.
The other service which stands out in his undying work is on our our City Park Board. He has served on the Park Board for about 30 years. He has volunteered his time, has went above and beyond through the years taking it upon himself to fix things at the park, clean and pick up daily, worked tirelessly on every aspect of the park as well. Rain, snow, etc., did not stop him from his dedication to keeping our park and amenities working and keeping it very clean.
Bathrooms were always opened early morning and closed by him late at night. His service to our park was all volunteer without any pay. Our park would not be what it is today without the dedication and love for it by this man.
He is also very dedicated and committed to the First Baptist Church and his family, wife Mary Ann Allen, of 48 years and two children, Jennifer Waggoner and Jonathan Allen as well as three grandchildren. He is a very dedicated man to his friends and community.
The Man of the year is Kenneth Allen. Ken had decided to retire from the park board in December, but he still calls and checks in on the park board. He has done an amazing amount for work for our town!
