[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11982]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO TROY BUCK

 Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, tonight the students who belong to 
the Future Farmers of America chapter at Centerpoint High School 
located between Amity and Glenwood, AR, are having their annual 
banquet. Some of these students will graduate next week and begin new 
chapters in their lives. While every teacher there has contributed to 
the education of each student I rise to today to honor one teacher 
there, Troy W. Buck.
  Troy Buck is a native of Alpine, which is located in Clark County in 
the southwest part of my State. He earned his bachelor's and master's 
degrees in agriculture at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and 
has spent 47 years in vocational agriculture impacting the lives of 
countless students along the way.
  Troy Buck taught for 21 years at Hope High School and built the Hope 
FFA chapter into the largest in the State. He then moved to Amity, 
which merged with Glenwood in 1995 to create the Centerpoint School 
District. Today under Troy Buck's leadership, Centerpoint's FFA chapter 
has almost 300 students, making it one of the State's largest. It 
operates the only school-supported meats lab in the State and recently 
98 acres was purchased for a school farm. In addition to his 
educational activities, Troy also farms 400 acres, most of which is in 
pasture or hay. He runs 100 head of cattle, operates 2 breeder hen 
houses, and produces Bermuda hay sold primarily to the racehorse market 
in nearby Hot Springs.
  Troy Buck is also a volunteer in his community. The Rockefeller 
Foundation has recognized him as a leader in small communities. He 
helped establish and build a building to house an ambulance service in 
Amity. Troy has also helped establish volunteer fire departments and a 
community water system. He serves as president of Alpine Water 
Association and the Alpine Fire Department. He is a member of the Farm 
Credit Board, and serves on the State board of Arkansas Farm Bureau. 
Additionally, he is a certified first responder.
  My home State of Arkansas is fortunate to have men and women of Troy 
Buck's caliber who devote their lives to providing excellent education 
for our children and improving the quality of life in our communities. 
I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Troy Buck for his commitment 
and service to the State of Arkansas.

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