Congratulations to Harry L. Fritzler, the 2012 National Land & Range Judging Contest Honoree!

Harry L. Fritzler is the state grazinglands specialist for southern Oklahoma for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.  He was born and raised on a farming and ranching operation in northwest Oklahoma.  After completing high school at Fargo, he attended college at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater and graduated with a degree in Agronomy with a Range Mangement Option.

Harry's involvement with the National Land & Range Judging Contest began during the early 1980's.  He joined the ranks of contest workers as co-chair of the Range Judging Steering Committee in 2004, and is the lead NRCS coordinator for the Range Judging Contest.  He has also conducted numerous training schools over the years for coaches and leaders.  Harry also coordinates the presentation of the awards jackets for the high point teams, individuals, and coaches sponsored by the Society for Range Management at the contest Awards Banquet each year.

Harry is a member of the Society for Range Management and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.  He received the Society for Range Management's NRCS Range Conservationist of the Year Award in 2001 and the Oklahoma Section of the Society for Range Management's Trail Boss Award in 2004.

Harry's wife Beverly graduated from OSU and she is the owner of Rose Rock Veterinary Hospital & Pet Resort in Norman.  Harry and Beverly have two children, Bryce and Breawna.  Bryce is currently in his first year of Veterinary School at OSU, and Breawna is the Office Manager at Rose Rock Veterinary Hospital & Pet Resort.

"Harry is the 'quiet guy' who gets things done." said Don Bartolina, contest coordinator.  "We can really depend on him and appreciate all he does for the contest."

Dianne is the systems coordinator for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission's Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program.  Soon after joining OCC in the fall of 1986, she started helping at the very next National Land & Range Judging Contest in May 1987, as one of approximately 200 tabulators hand grading contest score cards.

In the 60 years of the contest, the times have changed in many ways.  Especially in the 25 years of Dianne's personal experience with the contest, those changes have come at an increasingly rapid pace as the world entered first the age of computers, then the World Wide Web, then cellular and now 'smart' phones.  Tabulation and results have gone from handwritten to typewriters to computers, and today almost every student carries a cell phone, some of which are capable of containing applications that could provide an unfair advantage during the contest.

As Dianne's involvement with the contest has grown, she has gained more responsibility and has helped with modernizing several aspects of the contest as times have changed.  In 1999 she took over coordinating adult contest tabulation and compiling results from the entire contest and formatting them for the awards to be presented at the Awards Banquet.  In 2005 she streamlined and modernized contest registration by moving to the registration site the location for making corrections and entering new registrations with the use of portable computers and printers.  Previously, corrections and new registration information were taken back to the office where they were prepared and then carried back to the contest registration site.  This modernization has speeded up the registration process and greatly improved its efficiency.  More recently Dianne played a role in addressing rules about the use of electronic devices by participants during the contest.

Dianne also modernized contest processes by developing a system in which name tags, contest certificates and registration packets could all be produced from one database instead of separate databases for each category of product.

In addition, Dianne creates all the signs for the contest including sponsorship signs, group leader signs, field signs and parking signs.

Dianne said that time preparing for and during the National Land & Range Judging Contest is one of the busiest and most stressful times of her year.  But she speaks for all the annually-returning volunteers when she says, "If we didn't enjoy it and believe we are doing something good for the young people of America we wouldn't keep coming back."

Dianne and her husband Roy live in Choctaw and have two grown sons.

Kevin Hackett has worked for the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service for 32 years and recently was named Distinguished Educator for 2010.

Kevin has been involved with the national Land & Range Judging Contest for more than 20 years.  On contest morning he helps park vehicles at the contest site, then acts as a runner, gathering cards to deliver for tabulation.  He then assists with tabulation, grading thousands of contest cards through the years.

In his position with the Extension Service as the 4H northwest District Program Specialist, Kevin provides expertise in volunteer and staff development and management, program evaluation, management of events and activities, most agricultural project areas, farm safety, communication projects, State Fairs and 4H project record books and recognition.

He also coordinates programs including Oklahoma Junior Wheat Improvement Contest, Farm, Tractor, and Ag Machinery Safety, and numerous Northwest District 4H and invitational youth and volunteer activities.  He participates in the National Land & Range Judging Contest along with other Extension Service staff.

Kevin lives in Enid where he serves as deacon of the First Baptist Church, and he has two grown sons.