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Highlands Today

Agri-Civic To Be Renamed For 2 Highlands Ag Pioneers

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: June 16, 2008

SEBRING —Two of Highlands County's early agricultural pioneers in the citrus industry will have their names names written posthumously on the outside and inside of the Agri-Civic Center on George Boulevard.

The old Highlands County Agri-Civic Center will be renamed the Bert J. Harris, Jr. Agricultural Center, if county Commissioner Don Bates' motion is approved at today's county commission meeting.

In the same motion, expected to pass unanimously with no opposition, the commissioners also will rename the auditorium inside the Bert J. Harris, Jr. Agricultural Center the Sam Poltson Memorial Museum.

The auditorium is the main meeting room for not only agricultural based functions but also many civic and youth programs as well.

Both were local government agricultural leaders who spearheaded the drive to boost agriculture in general and citrus in particular into thriving industries within Highlands County.

Polston worked mainly to help the then-fledgling citrus industry, while Harris's efforts helped all segments of the county's farming industries.

Monday morning, at the Highlands County Government Center, a reporter asked 18 county employees who Bert J. Harris Jr. and Sam Poltson were. Not one employee knew, and not one even knew if they were alive or deceased.

One county worker said she faintly remembers hearing the name Sam Polston years ago, but she never knew who he was.

Poltson's and Harris's names won't be forgotten anymore, if Bates's motion passes.

In addition to renaming the agri-civic center into an "Agricultural Center" and giving the auditorium a memorial name, the motion also guarantees: "provisions for appropriate signage and placement of plaques and other appropriate memorabilia commemorating the naming of the building and the auditorium."

Harris was the county's Extension Service director for many years. When he started, the agri-civic center didn't exist and he worked out office in the old Circle area/downtown Sebring.

Because agriculture was growing and bigger facilities were needed for the government agencies that support agriculture, Harris convinced the county commission to buy 20 acres at what is now George Boulevard for a new building for the extension service.

In 1972, the current Highlands County Agri-Civic Center opened with offices for the extension service and other agriculture related government agencies.

Polston made national agricultural history as the county's agent for the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA). He did that by leading the creation of America's first watershed project, formally called "PL566."

Under Polston's guidance, the Lake Placid East Chain of Lakes had improvements to improve not just a single body of water but a whole watershed.

Polston followed up that groundbreaking project with more watershed projects, including three of special noteworthiness: the Fisheating Creek Watershed Project; the Istokpoga Marsh Watershed Project; and the Upper Josephine Creek-Jackson Creek Watershed Project.

According to historical material Bates will bring to today's county commission meeting, Polston helped the citrus industry, most notably by his innovative development of overhead citrus irrigation.

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