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Talk:John Ogonowski

Hugh Joseph, Tufts University:

John Ogonowski was the pilot on American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City this morning. At this time of immense tragedy, all our hearts go out to his wife Peggy, to their children and to other family and friends. But it is also a time to remember John for his generous efforts on behalf of farming in Massachusetts, and particularly for immigrant farmers from Cambodia who he assisted as part of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.

John became involved with this project at its very inception over three years ago, when Paul Fischer of Farm Service Agency in Westford contacted him looking for land to make available for Southeast Asian families living in nearby Lowell who wanted to farm. John recognized this immediately as an opportunity to help a worthy group of beginning growers to practice another kind of agriculture. He not only made land behind his home available to these farmers, but became our first "mentor farmer" for commercial growers. In practice he was involved in every program activity on his farm. He tilled the land and fertilized it with well-aged compost he would have otherwise used for his own crops. He excavated a pond for irrigation, and set up an irrigation system connected to it and to existing wells. He ordered materials and set up a greenhouse so the growers could raise seedlings and do extended season production. He provided advice on managing production, pest control, harvesting and other production practices. He participated at project steering committee meetings; in fact, he and Peggy hosted a number of these meetings at their wonderful home where they would serve dishes made from farm grown vegetables and fruits in additional to other great foods.

All John Ogonowski was asked to do was to rent land to these growers, which he did. But he'd rarely collect the rents and he did so much else for the growers that took up his time and created out-of-pocket expense for which he often never asked for reimbursement. John did all this while he was a full time pilot for American Airlines, while he raised his own crops on an additional 200 acres spread around Dracut, and while he raised three wonderful children. He was a founder and active member of a local land trust that has helped to save a substantial amount of local farmland in Dracut from development. This year, the land trust negotiated the purchase of about 50 acres of land about a mile from his house. With John's own land out of commission due to a major gas line installation, he made that land available to our project and because of that a dozen new growers got a new start farming this year.

John was interviewed by Susan Shepherd of NPR's Living on Earth just a few weeks ago. In that interview he talked at length about how much he loved to farm and how he got involved with the immigrant farming program because he wanted to offer it to others who also loved agriculture. He praised the hard work of the participating Cambodian families and how it meant a lot to him to be able to offer them this opportunity.

August Schumacher, Jr., former USDA Undersecretary of Agriculture and one of the founders of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, was, like everyone who know him, tremendously anguished by this catastrophic event:

"John Ogonowski's tragic death is a terrible loss to Peggy, their children and his wonderful parents and to so many in Massachusetts farming. He was so committed to helping immigrant farmers, to assist new immigrants from war torn Asia to make a better life farming in America. I just think how ironic it is that someone who worked so hard to help victims of terrorism should be brought down by an act of terrorism himself. He will be sorely missed."

John was a generous friend and partner to us all - and we will indeed miss him greatly.

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