We have the pleasure of having Mr. Gary LaGrange with Golden Prairie Honey Farm join Meadowlark Hills at 7 p.m. Friday, March 18, in the Community Room.  Gary manages the hives on the MLH campus.

Gary is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who served three tours of duty in combat in Vietnam. He commanded Fort Riley and retired just after the first war in Iraq. He is also working toward opening a farm near Manhattan for soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

The farm will train soldiers and veterans on the fundamentals of farming so that they can then join a mentor farmer and learn skills to either manage or own a farm. One of the things they will learn is beekeeping.

Gary agreed to become the trainer for them so he enrolled in Master Beekeeping Program with the University of Montana where the nations premier course is offered. As part of the farm effort, he began bee-keeping training for soldiers with PTSD and TBI last June. He has placed beehives in various locations surrounding Fort Riley so that they can be readily accessible for soldier training.