2025 Year in Review—People

We were able to cover most of the Year in Review contents for last week’s paper, but there was one section we had to hold, and we bring it to you here.  While we met a number of people throughout the year and witnessed a number of awards and presentations, here are a few of the standout people from 2025.

Kallie Stoddard Named Caribou County Distinguished Young Woman, then Idaho DYW!

Kallie Stoddard would go on to become State DYW!

 Caribou County Distinguished Young Women held their annual program in the spring of last year. Supporters enjoyed watching eight wonderful young women from the county showcase their physical fitness, talent, poise, and public speaking skills. Emcees for the evening were Dana McCurdy and the 2024 Distinguished Young Woman, Kate Williams. At the end of the evening, Stoddard was named the Caribou County DYW.

In October, Stoddard upped the ante by being named Idaho’s DYW in Idaho Falls, an amazing feat that deserves an incredible amount of admiration.  Stoddard will continue to reign for 2026, until next fall when the crown is passed again—hopefully to another Caribou County competitor!

Grace Resident completes book of memories  

 One person I met early in 2025 was Grace resident Barbara Willes (whose full name is Barbara Louise Marshall Black Willes), who will be celebrating her 100th birthday this year (2026).  Willes, born in 1926, is a delightful conversationalist and a “life long learner” who could teach anyone a thing or two.

In fact, teaching is something that Barbara has also done throughout her life.  She initially received her degree in Home Economics.  After that, she taught, at the very least, Home Economics, Physical Education, Health, 6th grade, 2nd grade, and decades worth of teaching at the church.  Throughout her career, she taught Chicago, in Provo, in Orem, in Goshen.  She has taught in elementary schools, high schools, and junior highs.   

“One of my goals is to make it to 100,” she says casually, and it seems like a safe bet.  While most of her siblings experienced Alzheimers in their later years, Barbara has had a remarkably healthy life.  As daughter Linda Toone explained, “We think those three things—enjoying hobbies, keeping her mind sharp and her body active every day—are what have kept her thriving for the last 25 years.”  Linda notes, however that “she’s finally started to slow down!  In fact, just this last month when she’s caught a couple of colds—I’ve seen her take a nap on her bed a few times—which I’ve never seen her do my entire life!  So she’s finally starting to act her age!”

Willes used to teach a class she called “writing about your life history one story at a time” at the Provo and Orem Senior Centers for from 1998 until she moved up to Grace to live with her daughter Linda and son-in-law Curtis Toone.  Even after she retired as a teacher, it’s a habit she maintains, whether that involves teaching her friends, peers, family, and anyone else with a curious mind.

Caribou Farmer Scott Brown inducted into Ag Hall of Fame

In 2025, Caribou County farmer Scott Brown, accompanied by his wife Diane, was inducted into the East Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame.  The Hall was established in 1972, and seeks to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the agriculture industry and way of life in Eastern Idaho.   

Brown’s official induction introduction noted that he is a 4th generation farmer and an Idaho Native, born and raised in Soda Springs to parents Clarke and Nina Brown.  He and his wife Diane have been married for 34 years.  Scott has two children, Stacy and Matthew.  Diane has three sons, Nathan, Jeffrey, and Andrew.  

Today, Brown’s operation grows barley, winter and spring wheat, and occasionally mustard.  They farm at an average elevation of 6,000 feet and are 100% dry land.  Brown tells people that some years are dryer than others!  The farm is now a partnership with his son-in-law and nephew.  Additionally, Diane’s oldest son retired from a career in the U.S. Marine Corps and moved to Soda to farm with them.  The farm’s mission statement says “we will strive to make the opportunity to farm available to further generations and that if we take care of the land and the farming operation that it will take care of us.”

Besides being a respected farmer, Brown has an extensive track record in industry advocacy, representing the interests of Idaho farmers on local, state, and national levels.  He first served as a board member on the Idaho Grain Producers Association board in the early 2000s.  He was elected to the 5-person executive board in 2006 and became the president of IGPA in 2010.  

In 2019, he was one of two Idaho Growers who traveled to Washington DC to meet with the USDA to make the case that barley should be included in the Market Facilitation Program Payments; barley was included in the second round of MFP payments in 2019.  The now trademarked slogan “No Barley No Beer” is credited to Scott himself.  

“I’m humbled and honored to received this award tonight,” Brown said.  “Like you said in my introduction, I didn’t have my sights set on awards or recognition, but I do appreciate knowing that my efforts are appreciated and hopefully have done some good.

As President of Idaho Grain you have to write a quarterly president’s message to be published in the Idaho Grain magazine, and I entitled my message ‘Becoming Part of the Heard.’  And I talked about that statistic and I added to it.  I said, ‘If you’re driving down the freeway to Disneyland with your family, in 1939 one out of every four cars you passed you could wave and know that you were waving at a fellow farmer.  Today, if you were to make that same trip, you’d have to pass more than fifty cars before you could wave to one.  That’s why we need to speak out; that’s why we need advocacy.  We need to tell our story and speak up and talk about what we want our farm policy to be.  If we don’t, we let our city cousins in New York and San Francisco make those decisions for us.  It’s imperative that we stay local, we stay active, and we stay involved.  

Speaking with the Enterprise, Brown continued by reiterating that “It’s so important that we speak up about our way of life, and what our values are, and what’s important to rural America, to Idaho, and to the Ag community.  There are fewer and fewer of us, like I said in my speech.  Less than two percent of people are involved in ag today.  That’s why we need to speak out.”

Asked specifically about Caribou County, Brown noted that it was special to him as his start in the industry and family, two things that are still very important to him.  “I started out in Caribou with my father and mother, and now it’s my children and other family members.  We indeed truly have a family farm,” Brown said.

“We’re lucky in Idaho because we have all the irrigated land.  Idaho’s the largest barley growing state in the nation—we raise about 34% of the nation’s barley.  And we’re lucky because we have different malt houses in Idaho, and a lot of end users of barley here in the state.”

Brown lives in Idaho and Utah (though he’s officially a resident of Idaho), and the two have a home north of Soda Springs.

“It’s a great home,” he said.

Soda Springs Animal Clinic sees changes large and small 

Eisa’bel Curran with Dr. Naomi Allen

 The Soda Springs Animal Clinic, located on the way into town at 611 Highway 30, has undergone a few changes in the past few months, and is proud to welcome new Veterinarian Naomi Allen.  Dr. Allen joins Dr. Grace Majors and the eleven other members of the SSAC staff in their ongoing work to provide routine healthcare services and emergency interventions to animals both large and small around the region.

After 47 years as a vet, Dr. JV Bollar officially retired in February, leaving behind him a long legacy of care and concern for the county’s animals.  The clinic has officially been purchased by the Alpine Animal Hospital Network, which is based in Chubbuck.  While the ownership name has changed, Office Manager Katelin Labrouche is clear that the services and care which customers have come to expect will not change.  

New Veterinarian Dr. Naomi Allen came to the Soda Springs Animal Clinic from the Alpine hospital in Chubbuck.  That type of cooperation has helped fill demand the clinic is experiencing.  “And in the shorter term, we are able to do things like, for instance, Dr. Majors is going on vacation in a few weeks and we have another doctor from Alpine coming over to fill in while she’s gone.  That helps up take care of our clients without disrupting any care.”

Many in the community may know Dr. Grace Majors, who has been with the clinic for around a year, and is originally from Bancroft (despite her name).  She graduated from Veterinary school at Washington State, as did Dr. Allen.  She will be coming up on a year at the Soda Springs Animal Clinic in May.  

On the other hand, to say that Dr. Naomi Allen hasn’t been in the area for very long yet is on the short side of an exaggeration.  “This is my first full week here,” she laughs.  “But I came in for three Thursdays beforehand to get used to it.”  Before that, she treated patients at the Alpine clinic in Chubbuck for two and a half years.  Her internship involved equine work in Arizona.  She is staying in an Air BnB right now, while she gets integrated into the practice.  “It’s definitely been a whirlwind of a week, but I’m happy to be getting going,” Dr. Allen says. 

New SEICAA director 

Lynch started her tenure around two months ago at the Soda Springs office at 159 E 2nd S (just north of the city police station), and has been getting to know the area and her role at the agency since then.   

New SEICAA director Renae Lynch.

“We love it here!” Lynch says.  She lived for many years in Tennessee, until a desire to live closer to kids, grandkids, and her elderly mother brought her out west.  “I’ve been looking for a long, long time to be a part of a community where I can really give back, and be immersed in this community as a vital member.  And be able to use what I’ve been given as a gift, which is compassion and helpfulness to reach out.”   SEICAA is certainly an opportunity to put that philosophy into practice.

As Lynch herself explains, “We serve a very diverse group of people.  We like to focus on helping vulnerable populations to establish self-sufficiency.  You know, from time to time we all need help in our lives, and that’s where SEICAA comes in—to bolster households that may need a leg up either with energy assistance, or food security, or resources that our other partnering agencies might be able to help with.  That’s what we’re here for.”

SEICAA works with various utility partner-vendors, such as the City of Soda Springs, to deliver the heating program’s direct product, heat.  The biggest community support for heating assistance comes in the form of Caribou County SEICAA’s highest profile event of the year, the “Project Warmth” Golf Classic, held every summer.  The tournament helps to raise funds for the Project Warmth program, which offers the energy assistance provided through LIHEAP to residents who need extra support against southeast Idaho’s frigid winter temperatures.  As the event draws closer, more details will become available about the exact time, entry process, and team signup.

The other thing SEICAA is probably most known for locally is the Food Pantry, which is open on Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  No appointment is necessary, and the pantry is open throughout the year, and makes every effort to serve all who come through the door.  

The Food Pantry has been run by the volunteer efforts of members of Beta Sigma Phi, who Lynch made sure to specifically credit.  “I am so grateful to them—they manage our entire food pantry on a volunteer basis, in collaboration with our community members.  And I want to say that our community members here are fantastic and amazing!  We run our food pantry on donations, and a majority of those do come from our community members.”  She praised the organized and efficient nature of the operation, which provides assistance throughout the year.  “They have got it dialed in, that’s for sure,” Lynch says.  “And it’s important, especially since one of the challenges for the community as a whole is the cost of food—it’s getting more and more expensive, and it can be harder to make ends meet, which is where we can help.”   

“When we have an opportunity to help each other out, the sky’s the limit on what we can do if we rally together,” she says.

Farm Bureau names Wilder Hatch Ag Producer of the Year

Wilder Hatch, FB Ag Producer of 2025

 Last week, the Farm Bureau hosted its annual cookout to celebrate local farmers and ranchers, and the agriculture community as a whole.  North Gem’s Wilder Hatch was named the Ag Producer of the Year.

Wilder Hatch was not able to be in attendance, and so his award for Ag Producer of the Year was presented by Marty McCullough to neighbor Dave Richardson.  The award presentation reads as follows: 

“Wilder Hatch was born and raised on his family’s ranch.  After graduating from North Gem High school, he joined the United Staes Air Force, where he served for eight years.  When his father became ill, Wilder returned home to the ranch and signed a one-year lease with his father.  After a successful year he signed a second one year lease, which ultimately led him to purchase the ranch on his third year of operation.  Wilder has been running the ranch ever since, and it has been a place where he and his wife have spent summers working to help put up the hay and move pipe.   Wilders ranch has been a place where young people could come and learn the value of hard work.

Wilder has served in many position in his community, always working to ensure his friends and neighbors could have the best chance for success.  Wilder has served on the Caribou Soil Conservation District Board for over 40 years, many of those years as Chairman of the Board.  Wilder has always worked to protect natural resources and agriculture, not only through Caribou County, but throughout Idaho.  He has always been willing to try new things, especially when they showed the ability to enhance natural resources and his fellow farmers and ranchers’ bottom lines.  

Wilder was instrumental in getting the Caribou SCD to host a soil health workshop in 2014.  He asked the Caribou SCD board to consider purchasing a no-till drill to provide a service to the local farmers of Caribou County.  However, he was not able to gain enough support on the board.  Wilder determined to see how a no-till drill could improve his operation, so he went an purchased one on his own in the fall of 2015.  Also, a neighbor who had attended the soil health workshop purchased one too.  Because of Wilder’s example and leadership, now other neighbors are hiring him to plant their crops as they too are working toward improving soil health and planting cover crops to extend their grazing and crop rotations.  

In 2017, Wilder was inducted in the Idaho Agricultural Hall of Fame.  Wilder has always been a friend to everyone, a respected leader in the community, a leader in his church, and a great steward over the land where he works.  Other landowners can learn from his experience and dedication in striving to do better, trying new things, and working to promote the health of the land he works.  Wilder has always lived by the verse penned by Hugh Hammond Bennett, “Take care of the land, and it will take care of you.”  If you were to drive by on a summer morning, you would most likely see Wilder out moving a handline at 85 years old.  He can still outwork most anyone in the valley.  

It is with great honor that we recognize Wilder Hatch as the 2025 Caribou County Ag Producer of the Year.”