On Oct. 4, National Weather Service Observer Ruth Beason was presented the Edward H. Stoll Award for 50 years of service for the Hale area. This award was created in 1975 in honor of a Cooperative Observer Edward Stoll, and is given to all observers who complete 50 years of service.

Stoll was the observer at Elwood, Neb., for over 76 years, and was the first to receive this prestigious Stoll award. It should be said that an observer who takes observations for that period has to be an excellent observer.

Leon Wasinger, Cooperative Program Manager (pictured left) and Richard Elder, Meteorologist in Charge (pictured right) from the National Weather Service Forecast Office (NWS) in Wichita presented this award to Mrs. Beason. Also in attendance was Michael (Joe) Rosner, Data Acquisition Program Manager.

During the past 50 years, Beason has provided precipitation readings. This data is published by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on a monthly basis and made available to the general public.

Kansas State University’s Weather Data Library stores the data which is made available by request. The data is used by several industries including Manufacturing, Medical, Transportation, Communication, Financial, Agriculture, Litigation, Insurance, Public Utilities, Water Resources, and Architectural Design.

The National Weather Service extends their sincere appreciation to Ruth Beason for her 50 years of prestigious service.