Buchy talks career, art trail

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Buchy being inducted into the Ohio Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2017. Gaylen Blosser photo.

GREENVILLE—It’s hard to come up with someone more well-known or respected within a community than former State Rep. Jim Buchy is within West Central Ohio.

Most recently, Darke County Republican Party Chairperson Katie DeLand compared his legacy in the area to that of Annie Oakley.

A 1958 graduate of Greenville High School, Buchy has done a lot since then to earn such graces.

Buchy was the President and CEO of Buchy Food Services from 1977 to 2012.

The family-business operated in Darke County since 1878, for about five generations.

Over the years, the company grew from a small manufacturer of meat and sausage products into a full-line food distributor. The company provided quality food products to restaurants and organizations.

Buchy’s legacy is attributed to more than just his time with Buchy Food Services.

He was first appointed to public office in 1980 as a member of the Greenville City Schools Board of Education. Representative Buchy was married to his late wife Sharon for 56 years.

They have two grown children and eight grandchildren. Buchy who retired from public office in January of 2017, is still involved in the community.

In his capacity as State Representative, Buchy was a fervent promoter of community values and the success of businesses in Greenville.

Buchy is credited with support of policies that reduce the cost of doing business and attract spectators to downtown areas in Ohio.

In particular, he has repeatedly supported the Ohio Historic Tax Credit which promotes investment in, and renovation of Ohio’s historic structures.

A long-time supporter of equestrian agriculture, Buchy connected his support for our community and passion for Standardbred Horse Racing in his continued involvement and support of the Gene Riegle Memorial Race held annually at the Great Darke County Fair.

Representative Buchy still calls Greenville home, and remains an important community leader. 

Currently, Buchy is a senior advisor at The Batchhelder Company, and chairman of the Agriculture Education Foundation.

In his current role as Chairman, he is heading up a mission to promote agricultural education accessibility and support agricultural educators by connecting those in action with the resources for success.

With this mission, he hopes to increase the number of quality agricultural education programs in Ohio by promoting agricultural education programs for those considering teaching and those looking to add opportunities to their school.

As well as, support agriculture educators in the classroom with financial resources, connecting them to STEM curriculum, and allow for more experiences in and outside of the classroom.

Buchy said his program is focused on the Cincinnati area.

“We start with LifeWise [christian education], 4-H,” he said. “When they get to high school, FFA, when they graduate: productive. They are ready to be productive citizens. Oh and by the way, when they start talking about maybe getting married, what we’re doing is bringing families back together. The reigning theme is agriculture. It goes back to the soil.”

Due to his decades of public service, Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) and the Darke County Parks (DCP) will add a statue of Buchy to the Darke County Art Trail this summer.

DCP and DCCA added the Tecumseh Statue last summer to the trail at Shawnee Prairie.

A statue will be added of Jim Buchy along the Buchy Mile of the DCP Tecumseh Trail, and across from Garst Museum. The monument will feature Buchy on a park bench, sitting and looking out over the property he and his family owned over five generations.

Buchy wasn’t sure about the statue at first.

“They came to me and said they wanted to add to the Buchy Mile,” he said. “By putting a statue there of me. They asked me what I thought, and I said, ‘I don’t know. I always thought statues should be of people who have moved on.'”

After sitting down with his daughter Kate Kerg, of Orlando and John Buchy, of Greenville, he decided to allow the honor.

“They had the sculptor, Joshua Shepherd came out to my house for a couple of hours,” Buchy said. “There was three or four people around. He measured me from ears to nose, all kinds of stuff. He’s a very busy man. They said the project wouldn’t get started on it until spring.”

Buchy added that he’s very flattered with the honor.

“People want to honor, basically our family, our business and my service to the public,” Buchy said.

The motivation for the decades of work Buchy has put into Ohio is simple, its the people.

“People here, in West Central Ohio, I want to see the rest of the world be like we are,” he said. “Not the other way around. I don’t want to see it go the other way around. This is the best place to live because of the people. I got into this to work for the best people, and try to make an impact in Columbus, that would make sure people could stay like they are.”

His time fighting for West Central Ohio has been exhilarating, he added.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. “I’ve met and made so many friends in this business. Not just here, [Darke County], but the people I worked for, 125,000 residents, best people in the world.”