At Tuesday night's Kingdom of Callaway Supper, Mark Smart was announced as the 117th president.
"Well I was surprised," Smart said. "I get a call Saturday and they wanted to know if I would be the president. I told them I needed a few days to think about it. But it's just an honor that the people of Callaway are looking around, and they're like, 'hey you, good job doing this and doing that,' and so it's an honor and a privilege."
Smart has spent his entire life in Callaway County. He has been farming since he was old enough to climb up, reach the peddles and start a tractor. And now he is the vice president of Smart Brothers Farm Inc.
He is the oldest of four children of the late Lloyd and Mary Ann Smart. His brother is deceased and he has two sisters, Theresa and Kim. He went to a two-room school house in Tebbetts for four years until Tebbetts was voted into the Jefferson City School District, where he graduated from Jefferson City Senior High School in 1976.
He retired from the South Callaway Fire Protection District after 23 years, where he served as the chief for the last three of those years.
Smart is a member of the Mokane Masonic Lodge, Tebbetts Odd Fellow Lodge, a board member of the Tebbetts Community Club, Sons of American Legion and the Tebbetts Methodist Church. He has also been on the Callaway Soil and Water Board for 20 years, with the last 12 years as a board chairman and the president of the Tebbetts East and Renzs Levee District.
For 43 years, he has been married to his wife Dianna Smart. They have three children: Jennifer, Shawn and Traci, as well as five grandchildren.
"I love spending time with my grandkids, that's the best thing," Smart said.
When Smart isn't working, he enjoys fishing, hunting, watching Cardinals games and tractor pulling.