| The 57th annual WV Molasses Festival will be held on September 26-28, 2024
Offutt (left) receives award from Commission President Larry
McCallister
2002 - Deward Offutt is among a few people in Calhoun County that has "stuck to it,"
involved in numerous farming, community and civic projects for over 45 years. Offutt
shows up and does his volunteerism "because it has been important to our people,"
he said yesterday.
The Arnoldsburg area resident was given a special award yesterday by the Calhoun
County Commission, recognizing his dedicated service to the community.
Calhoun Commission President Larry McCallister said "He has been an example of
what a person can do in their lifetime to help the community. We take this day to
recognize him."
Offutt has been a Little Kanawha Soil Conservation Supervisor for 45 years, and a
member of Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) for about 35 years.
He originally help start the West Fork Community Action Association, the first in West
Virginia and 13th in the nation. Besides the development of the community park at
Arnoldsburg, the organization organized the well-known West Virginia Molasses
Festival, an on-going event for nearly 35 years.
"I was on the Calhoun Commission when we got the first ambulance, before any other
area county," he said. "At that time I helped get a $3 million grant to expand Calhoun
General Hospital."
Offutt said "My life has been filled with work, and I'm grateful some of it was to help
Calhoun County."
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