Thursday evening's Farm-City Banquet honored both Kathy Knight, a tireless volunteer, for her many years of service to the community, and Dr. A.L. Duckworth Jr., a long-time veterinarian, for his service to agriculture.

The 21st annual banquet, which was attended by 185 people, brought together rural and city leaders for paired awards that are kept secret until the last minute.

The event was held at the Clyde Austin 4-H Center. Greeneville Mayor Laraine King and Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles were both on hand.

Knight, who received the Robert Austin Award for Distinguished Service to the Community, said she has attended the event many times in one or another capacity.

However, Knight said, she had no idea she was to be honored when Bill and Patsy Carroll asked her to go with them.

Presenter Steve Hale, who retired as University of Tennessee Extension leader here, said Knight "was instrumental when we started up the Farm-City Banquet many years ago."

Knight told the crowd, "I don't feel like I deserve this, but I certainly admired Mr. Austin through the years and I'll always keep this."

Dr. Duckworth is also a regular attendee at the event. He also seemed genuinely surprised to receive the J.W. Massengill Award for Distinguished Service to Agriculture.

"I appreciate this very much," Duckworth said. He added, "I don't feel like I've done that much to receive it, but I'm glad I did."

Members of FFA Chapters from all over the county carrried drinks and desserts to the tables, and a delicious grilled chicken dinner was prepared by the camp staff.

Pettus Read, director of communications for the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, and editor of the Tennessee Farm Bureau News, as well as the Tennessee Home & Farm magazine, was the speaker.

Read noted that agriculture is a $2 billion business in Tennessee, and "the largest word on the state seal" for a reason, since agriculture figures so prominently in the state's past, present and future.

Farmers are by nature optimists, he said, always looking forward to next year.

He noted that Greene County has 3,000 farms, and though that number is about 300 less than it was in 2002, the county still has 229,000 acres in cultivation or farm use.

He said the total "market value of products sold in agriculture in Greene County is $76 million annually," something those on farms and in the city should be very proud of.

Read also noted that Mark Klepper, of the Woodlawn community west of Baileyton, is the current president of the Tennessee Young Farmers and Ranchers Association.

Each of us should "thank God every morning" for the work that farmers do to put food grown in America on everyone's table, Read said.

Read's talk was peppered with the humor he has become famous for as a columnist in 52 newspapers statewide.

He said afterward that Thursday's event was the first time he had spoken in public since the death of his wife, Judy, from pancreatic cancer in September. He was accompanied by his daughter, Nina.

Hale noted that both award winners moved to Greene County from elsewhere, but each of them has made notable contributions in a number of voluntary capacities.

Knight was born in Bristol in 1947, the daughter of Carolyn and Frank Harkins. She moved to Greeneville at age 15. She is a GHS graduate and attended the University of Tennessee.

In 1967, she married "her high school sweetheart, Carroll Knight." He died in 2003. They have one son, Michael, who lives in Nashville.

Hale said Knight formerly was editor of what was at that time the society page at The Greeneville Sun, but left to work at the Drug Shop pharmacy. Later, "She was the heart and soul of WSMG" radio for many years.

After the radio station was sold, Knight returned to the Sun where she is now the editor and a columnist for the Accent section. She also works at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

Knight is an active member of the Greeneville Woman's Club, having held most every office, and was chairman of its holiday bazaar for many years.

Knight was on the board of directors of the Greene County Partnership, where she was tourism chairperson for many years, and she also has been on the board of the Boys & Girls Club, organizing many fundraisers.

She is on the board of Main Street: Greeneville, and has twice been its president.

She is a member of Reformation Lutheran Church, sings in its choir, is a Sunday school teacher and member of the church council.

Duckworth was born in 1933 in Gainesville, Ga., and moved here at age 6 when his father established a veterinary practice.

Duckworth attended city schools and was a 1951 graduate of Greeneville High School, where he played football and baseball.

Hale noted that Duckworth was recently inducted into the GHS sports hall of fame.

Duckworth was graduated in 1959 from Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine and returned here to practice, specializing in large animals.

He and his wife, Nancy, were married in 1963 and have a son and daughter, and five grandchildren.

In the 1960s, Duckworth began purchasing farmland and cattle, Hale said, and eventually developed a purebred Angus herd that is now the second largest registered herd in the state.

Hale said Duckworth's strong belief in performance testing and bull tests has influenced Angus genetics far beyond his farm.

He is a voting delegate of the American Angus Association, a charter member of the Greene County Angus Association and a director of the East Tennessee Angus Association.

For many years Duckworth has been involved as a member and officer in the Greene County Livestock Association.

Duckworth has also been a supporter of community youth sports and has bred and exhibited three National Bench Champion foxhounds.