The Dartmouth Grange will honor two people and one organization at its 2019 Community Citizen Awards ceremony on April 2.

The Community Citizen Award is presented annually in April as part of Grange Month to individuals or groups to recognize their outstanding achievements in our community.

This year’s recipients are Lu Yoder of Westport, Steve Walach of Friends Academy, and Meatworks, an organization based in Westport.

Yoder is an agricultural machine fabricator who has shared his knowledge of design, engineering and problem solving with small, local farms. Having fabricated several bike-powered machines including root vegetable washers and grain threshers, Lu continues to empower growers by offering the plans free of charge.

Walach started the service learning program at Friends Academy over ten years ago, seeking to connect middle school students with projects and ideas outside the school walls. This includes Steve’s ‘garden’ which produces thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables each year, harvested, weighed and delivered to an area food pantry.

Meatworks operates the region’s newest state-of-the-art slaughter facility, proudly offering services with the highest animal welfare and humane handling standards, food safety standards, and full traceability via their integrated scale system.  

They will be honored on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Grange Hall, 1133 Fisher Rd. in Dartmouth. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Visit dartmouthgrange.org for more information.