During the 99th annual meeting of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, five individuals were recognized for going above and beyond in their volunteer spirit to the Tennessee Farm Bureau with the Distinguished Service Award.
“Our organization wouldn’t be almost 100 years without the leadership, guidance and countless hours of dedication that came from these volunteer leaders,” said Tennessee Farm Bureau President Jeff Aiken. “We need to recognize individuals who devote so much to ensure our organization succeeds and these five leaders are certainly deserving of this honor.”
District I:
Mr. Bryan Keeton was selected as the recipient for Distict II. Mr. Keeton was born, raised and continues to live in the Bath Springs community. He attended elementary school at Union Hall and then graduated from Decaturville High School in 1954. He attended West Tennessee Business College in Jackson for a year before coming back to the farm and hauling livestock for local producers to Union Stockyards in Nashville. However, it was back in 1924 when his father opened a local general store and Mr. Keeton took over that responsibility in 1959 and continued to operate the store until 1999.
Mr. Keeton has always been active in his community, serving on the ASCS board, the Soil Conservation District, the Decatur County Hospital board, the Decatur County Bank board and the Quinnco Mental Health board, and of course, the Decatur County Farm Bureau. He fondly remembers the annual county BBQ’s he attended with his family as a boy and the many services he’s had over the years, namely the Farm Bureau Tax Service. He’s served on the board of directors in Decatur County since 1976. He was elected as president from 1999 until 2011 and is currently still serving as vice president. Along with his family, farm and Farm Bureau, he has been a dedicated member of the Bath Springs United Methodist Church for many years.
As a result of Mr. Bryan Keeton’s commitment and dedication to improving agriculture and rural life in Tennessee, he received Farm Bureau’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service award.
District II:
Mr. Bud Guinn grew up on a small farm in the Clearbranch community of Unicoi County where the family raised cattle, tobacco, corn and hay. He attended school at Martin’s Chapel, Temple Hill and then Unicoi County High School where he was actively involved in FFA. After graduating high school in 1956, Bud attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he majored in agricultural education, but more importantly, where he met his future bride, Lela Jane Bass of Giles County. The two were married in September of 1960, and have two daughters and now one granddaughter.
Bud received a master’s degree in agronomy with a minor in statistics and after, began his 32-year career with the United States Department of Agriculture. He started surveying land before working in the Nashville office until 1971 when he and the family moved to Washington, D.C. for seven years before moving back to Tennessee as the livestock director and eventually serving as Tennessee’s state statistician.
Bud retired from the statistics service in 1994 and began farming fulltime on Jane’s family’s farm in Giles County where he became heavily involved in the agriculture community, serving on the CO-OP board, Farm Service Agency committee, the livestock association, NRCS and the Giles County Farm Bureau where he served for many years as president. Along with his involvement in the community, an important part of Bud’s life is his faith. He and Jane are active members of the First Baptist Church of Pulaski.
Mr. Bud Guinn has never been one to say no to serving or stepping up to lead, and because of his outstanding service to his church, his family, his community and Farm Bureau, he receives the organization’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service award.
District III:
Mr. Rush Guthrie was the third of four children born to Glenn and Edna Guthrie. The family farmed in Polk County in his early years before moving to Bradley County where they raised cattle and crops, including corn, cotton and tobacco. Rush attended school at Charleston and was active in 4-H and FFA. He graduated from Charleston High School in 1959 after meeting his future bride, the former Sandra Carlton.
The Guthrie’s were married in May of 1959 and had two children. They bought their first farm together in 1967 and added more land in 1974 which allowed Rush to begin farming fulltime. In 1989, he purchased the farm where the family lives today in the Riceville community. He and his son, Josh, run a black angus cattle operation, raising corn and hay for feed. In 1999, the family began a small agritourism venture that has grown considerably over the years and features a pumpkin patch and corn maze.
Rush first became involved with Farm Bureau in Bradley County where he served on the board of directors for eight years before moving his membership to McMinn County where he has been on the board for the past 30 years, including the past 14 as county president. Along with Farm Bureau, he has also been active with the Bradley County Soil Conservation District board, the McMinn County and state livestock associations and the Spring Creek and Mouse Creek watershed board. The Guthrie’s are also active in the Spring Creek United Methodist Church.
Rush says his church, like Farm Bureau, has been an extension of his family and credits all three to any success he’s had. And it’s because of his devotion and dedication to improving agriculture and rural life, he received Farm Bureau’s Distinguished Service award.
District IV:
Mr. David Goodman was the oldest of six children born to Willard and Pauline Goodman. His grandfather owned a small farm nearby which sparked David’s interest in farming. David attended school in Wartburg and graduated from Central High School in 1960. He then attended Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky where he received an education in business before coming back home to Morgan County to work in construction and help his father in the mining business. However, it was while he was in school that he met his wife of more than 40 years, the former Carolyn Pittman. Together they had three children, but unfortunately, in 2006, Carolyn passed away after losing her battle with cancer. David remarried to Barbara Scott and together they feel blessed to have 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He worked for his father at GNF Coal Company until his death in 1985 when he started Goodman Lumber Company. For more than ten years, David ran the sawmill, but decided it was time to retire in 1998. Through the years, he’s been active in the community, serving on CO-OP boards and other local committees, but one of his proudest services was helping to establish the Morgan County Cattleman’s Association. The Goodmans are also active members of the Mossy Grove Baptist Chruch, and David actually served as the pastor for the church in the late 70s and early 80s and currently serves as the associate pastor.
In 1990, Mr. Goodman was was asked to serve on the board of directors for the Morgan County Farm Bureau and has continued that service for many years as vice president and nearly ten years as president. He’s been a dedicated member of the Farm Bureau family for more than 50 years, and because of his outstanding service and commitment to advocating for agriculture, he received Farm Bureau’s Distinguished Service award.
District V:
Mr. Carl Mills was the youngest of three children born to Roy and Irene Mills. He grew up just six blocks from the University of Tennessee’s stadium in Knoxville. He attended grade school nearby and graduated from Knoxville High School in 1950. After one quarter attending UT, Carl signed up for the Air Force for four years and spent one year in Korea, and on a leave back home, he met the former Jama Newman who would become his wife a short time later.
The Mills have now been together for 66 years with two children and now three grandchildren. After Carl’s discharge from the Air Force, he received his mechanical engineering degree from UT and started working for Robert Shaw Fulton in Knoxville for 17 years and then another 17 years with the Tennessee Valley Authority before retiring. Soon after marrying, the Mills moved to his wife’s family farm near the Seven Islands community where he helped is father-in-law with his portable feed mill and where they maintained a cow/calf operation for many years.
Mr. Mills served on the Knox County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for several years where he and his wife were active with farm-city days, policy development and food check-out days. His wife served as chairman of the Knox County Farm Bureau Women and he served as county president for six years. Just like Farm Bureau, the Mills have been dedicated to their church, Hillcrest United Methodist.
Mr. Mills has been devoted to his church, his family, his community and Farm Bureau, and because of his lifelong dedication, he received the organization’s highest honor, the distinguished served award.
“Each of these individuals are to be commended for devoting so much of their lives to the Farm Bureau mission of working to improve agriculture and rural life in Tennessee,” said Aiken.
