Bruce Pokarney, 1977 WSU
Communications graduate.
State of Oregon Department
of Agriculture
THE AGRICULTURE QUARTERLY
Spring 2018, Issue 409
Pokarney ponderings: 27 wondrous years
When I made the final decision about a year ago
to retire in March 2018 from the Oregon Department of Agriculture after a long
ODA career, it was certain that time would fly.
For several months, I thought about writing my
last article for the Agriculture Quarterly. Ending my ODA career after nearly
27 years as Director of Communications, I find it a challenge to “communicate”
how I feel. The term bittersweet comes to mind. It’s not easy to leave the best
job I’ve ever had. There is some sadness in saying goodbye to the ODA family
and the wondrous experiences I’ve been privileged to have since reporting to
work in October 1991.
You’ll notice I used the word “wondrous” rather
than wonderful. I felt the urge to write that word, for some reason. Then I
stumbled upon a great, descriptive comparison of the two words courtesy of a
google search—something that would not have been possible when I started my job
so many years ago.
“Wonderful” can be used to describe something
that is extremely good. That term fits just fine in this case. But “wondrous”
is something that invites awe and taps into the emotional. That’s really how I’ve
felt while having access to a broad range of events, issues, and people who are
connected to agriculture. To be a spokesperson for a state agency is a worthy
endeavor. To sometimes be able to consider oneself a spokesperson for an
industry is something only a few communications officials get to do. I’m the
lucky one.
To recount all of the highlights over 27 years is
impossible.
Grant monitoring in Baker County with Tri-County
CWMA, BLM, ODA, and Baker County Weed Control working to protect core sage grouse
habitat.
Lincoln County monitors and treats gorse with
funding received from the OSWB. Lincoln County gorse sites are in important
weed challenge for their area.
Along for the ride with the Noxious Weed Control
Program and the aerial release of biocontrol agents fighting Scotch broom.
--Pokarney ponderings: continued on page--
I’m bound to miss a few. And to capture the
evolution of communications from pre-internet to social media warrants a book,
not an article. When I was hired as a public information officer by ODA
Director Bruce Andrews, his then-Special Assistant Katy Coba, and
then-Communications Director Marla Maeder (the creator of the Ag Quarterly),
typewriters were only recently replaced by word processors. I began writing the
“Story of the Week” in late 1991. It was delivered to media by the US postal
service. Even news releases were distributed this way and the information may
have shown up in the newspaper or on TV two or three days later. The most
urgent of news relied on fax machines.
Most importantly, we depended on the media to
reach the public. If they didn’t print or air our story, the chances of it
getting noticed by a significant audience were limited. Today with email,
websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms, reaching the public directly
is most often the preferred path.
I can’t stress enough how diverse the Oregon
Department of Agriculture is, reflecting the state’s ag industry in general.
The many programs and wide-ranging issues a phone call from a Reuters reporter
asking if I knew anything about an animal in neighboring Washington that had
contracted BSE, better known by the public at the time as mad cow disease.
Surely, I would have been given a heads up about something so cataclysmic.
But none of us knew until the Secretary of
Agriculture addressed a national audience a mere 15 minutes later.
And then there were the stories to be written
from travels far and wide.
My first visit to Harney County to witness a
grasshopper infestation. Some people abhor snakes. I hate grasshoppers. Wearing
a white shirt to the site of the outbreak only made things worse as they
eagerly crawled all over me.
There was the domestic trade mission with
Director Coba and our ryegrass growers as part of a sales pitch to Midwest
farmers needing a cover crop to help increase yields. How hot and muggy can it
get during an Illinois August?
My first international travel included stops in
Japan, Korea, and China as part of a Governor’s Trade Mission. I came away
appreciating the fact that ODA marketing folks who go overseas are not
tourists, but hard-working ambassadors for Oregon agriculture.
More than the places and events, I recall and
revere the people I’ve been able to work with over the years. At ODA, I’ve
counted many of them as friends, all of them I’ve considered professionals
dedicated to public service. The farmers, ranchers, fishers, entrepreneurs,
leaders, and advocates of Oregon agriculture—you are the past, present, and
future.
From the young, articulate, and passionate FFA
members I’ve met to the wise, venerable stalwarts of the industry, your
kindness and willingness to help me tell your story will not be forgotten.
Following retirement, my beloved wife and I will
be relocating to South Dakota. Sounds crazy until you consider the powerful
pull of a one-year old grandson. We will miss Oregon but take with us a
lifetime of memories and friends. I’m riding off into the sunrise (after all,
we are traveling east) ready for the next chapter.
Onward and upward.
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PHOTO CUTLINES
- Along for the ride with the Noxious Weed Control Program and the aerial release of biocontrol agents fighting Scotch broom.
- A regular attendee at Oregon Board of Agriculture meetings.
- Pokarney house under construction, Aberdeen, South Dakota
- On the job in 1993 with (then) up-to-date cell phone.
- Part of an Oregon Governor’s trade mission to China and a visit to Tiananmen Square.
- Grandpa with grandson, Caleb.
- With Governor Kulongoski on the steps of the State Capitol in Salem.
- Twitter photo taken from historic column, Astoria, Oregon.
:::::::::::::::
Bruce Pokarney (@bp1955) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Bruce
Pokarney (@bp1955). OR Department of Agriculture Communications Director, WSU
Cougar alum, avid Oakland A's fan. Wilsonville, OR.
..........
Oregon Dept.
of Agriculture Facebook Dec 11, 2014
This throwback features our Director of Communications,
Bruce Pokarney, sporting his high-tech phone back in 1993. Bruce has been
working hard for ODA since 1991!
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Information about Bruce Pokarney, 1977 WSU Communications
graduate.
The Oregon Dept. of Agriculture “Employee of the Year”
award was presented to ODA Communications Director Bruce Pokarney by ODA Director
Katy Thorne Coba, who attended, but did not graduate from WSU.
Katy Thorne Coba, who attended, but did not graduate from WSU.
The Agriculture Quarterly,
State of Oregon Department of Agriculture Salem, Oregon Spring 2011 issue
Ag Progress award winners
Oregon agriculture gave a salute to industry leaders March 30, 2011, at the
19th annual Agricultural Progress Awards Dinner in Corvallis, Ore. The event,
hosted by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), celebrates progress in
agriculture made through partnerships between business, higher education, and
state government.
ODA Director Katy Coba presented awards in
recognition of innovation and leadership.
ODA Employee of the Year:
Bruce Pokarney, director of communications
