Pettee Medal Ceremony

Yankee Director Stephen Taylor was awarded the Pettee Medal by the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association on April 6th. (See this earlier post for background information about the Pettee Medal and Steve.) Upwards of 200 people gathered in Huddleston Hall on the UNH campus in Durham to honor Steve. Speeches were given by a number of notable people, including Lorraine Stuart Merrill, Steve's successor as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food. In his speech Steve talked about farming, journalism and public service. Click here for more information about the ceremony.

UNH students contributed to the ceremony. The a cappella group Alabaster Blue sang two songs: the UNH alma mater and a song written especially for the occasion about cows and the Taylor Farm: "I Am Cow." (It was a hit!) A group of four UNH CREAM students took turns reading "100 Things You Should Do To Know the Real New Hampshire," written by Steve when he was ag commissioner. Below are the four CREAM students with Steve, wearing his Pettee Medal:

Second from the left is Emily Malnati '10, President of CREAM. Emily won a Royal W. Smith, Jr. Scholarship from Yankee Farm Credit in 2008.

Click here for more information and photos about the ceremony, including a list of past winners of the Pettee Medal. It is a distinguished group!

UPDATE 4/27/10: For a video of part of the ceremony, click here. The first two minutes of the video are the "I Am Cow" song by Alabaster Blue. It's good!