OTTAWA — There was a whole lot of farming going on during A Day at the Farm Tuesday. Jeff Sutton, Kansas Farm Bureau’s safety director, said he enjoys talking to youngsters about farm safety. Sutton said he’s especially glad to take part in A Day at the Farm each year because of Centropolis farmer Cecil Rockhold. At Tuesday’s event, Rockhold talked about his farm accident nearly 10 years ago. He was caught in a power takeoff shaft on New Year’s Eve in 1993 and his neck and ribs were broken and he received other serious injuries. He was in an intensive care unit for a week. Rockhold told the kids that many farm accidents are fatal but he figures God saved him so he could try to save others. During his talk, Rockhold’s two daughters Lakin and Hunter took out the clothing he was wearing that day. His sweatshirt, shirt and coveralls are ripped into shreds and torn into small pieces. Since then, Rockhold said he has been an advocate for farm safety. More than 375 third-graders learned about various aspects of farming at the Sylvester Farm.
