Carol Gamm-Smith of Holts Summit snapped a photo of her 78-year-old father driving his 1979 pickup truck on their family farm in Bowling Green when she visited in May. She said the farm has been in her family for more than 100 years. Her father has farmed his whole life.
"It's not just the truck that's been at it a long time, but the guy who's driving it, too," Gamm-Smith said of her father and his pickup truck.
Gamm-Smith used her Kodak easy share point-and-shoot camera to take the photo of the red Ford pickup driving down a gravel road with soybean fields on either side of it. The photo was awarded an honorable mention in the 2014 Focus on Missouri Agriculture Photo Contest. Gamm-Smith's photo will be on display at the state fair with the other contest winners.
The contest, hosted by the Missouri Department of Agriculture, has four categories for entries: Beauty of the Farm, Faces of the Farm, The Farmer's Life and Pride of the Farm. They also have a category called Children's Barnyard for photographers age 12 and under.
Gamm-Smith's photo won honorable mention in the Pride of the Farm Category. She said the truck in the photo has been a dependable part of her father's farm - the 1979 truck has not needed excesive repairs. Gamm-Smith and her siblings used to take the truck to transport lawnmowers from their farm to a church where they mowed the lawn. She remembers sitting next to her older sister in the truck on those trips.
"I always had to sit next to her. And the truck has a long gear shift handle on it and she would put it in reverse and she'd always hit my knee," Gamm-Smith said with a chuckle.
The family has mainly used it on their farm property, but Gamm-Smith said it has made some longer trips, too. Her father used the truck to move each of his four children to college.
Gamm-Smith said she entered the contest five years ago when it first started. She won an honorable mention then and has entered ever since with the hopes she would win again. She said she enjoyes taking photos and does so often. She especially likes taking photos of nature.
More than 750 photos were submitted by amateur photographers across the state. In a press release, Director of Agriculture Richard Fordyce described the photos as illustrations of the continually-evolving story of agriculture.
"Seeing Missouri's agricultural scenes through the eyes of these amateur photographers is captivating," Fordyce said.
Twenty-six photos were selected total, from all categories and best-in-show. The panel of judges was comprised of Dana Rogge, USDA-Farm Service Agency public affairs and outreach specialist; Misti Preston, Missouri Department of Agriculture strategic initiatives advisor; and Kyle Spradley, University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources information specialist.
The photos will be on display in the Agriculture Building on the fairgrounds during the Missouri State Fair Aug. 7-17. The photos can also be seen online at agriculture.mo.gov.
This year, conetest winners will also receive recognition at the Missouri Governor's Conference on Agriculture in December.
Gamm-Smith said she didn't make it to the fair the last time her photo was on display. She and her family hope to make it this year.
Megan Favignano can be reached at (573) 826-2417 or [email protected].