The Barren County Alumni Association hosted the third annual Hall of Distinguished Alumni banquet on Saturday at Barren County High School. Seven Barren County graduates were honored with a dinner at Trojan Academy followed by an induction ceremony at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

Those inducted for the class of 2009 into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni were as follows:

• Johnny Bell

Bell is a 1983 Barren County High School graduate. He serves as the 23rd District state representative and does some farming on the side. He is married to the former Carla McCoy, a 1986 BCHS graduate. They have two children, Jeremiah and Matt. He is the son of Nellie Bell Martin and the late Ronnie Bell. He is a 1997 WKU graduate and a 2000 graduate of Salmon P. Chase College of Law. He was admitted into the Kentucky Bar Association in 2001 and is a partner with Gillenwater, Hampton and Bell Law Firm in Glasgow. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, Barren County Bar Association, The Cattlemen’s Association, National Rifle Association, Wild Turkey Federation, KEEPS and Dry Fork Coon Hunters Association. He is a member of Bethel Baptist Church.

• Sarah Bowers

Sarah A. Bowers was a 1946 graduate of Temple Hill High School and of the Indiana Business College in 1947. She spent countless hours and energy serving Barren County. She was known as an advocate for improving the safety on county roads, and sought funding and support for the state of Kentucky to have a monument erected at Vicksburg, Va. She and several citizens of Barren County attended the dedication and ball at Vicksburg in 2001. She was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Temple Hill Firefighters Auxiliary, Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce, National Historical Society and Business and Professional Women’s Club. She was recognized as a Woman of Achievement, ambassador of Kentucky, named a Kentucky Colonel, received the Distinguished Citizen Award and Kentucky’s Distinguished Service Medal.

• Tim England

England graduated from Barren County High School in 1979. He graduated in 1985 from the Pharmacy School at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., where he was vice president of the American Student Pharmaceutical Association and received the Kappa Psi Scholastic Award for having the highest grades in his pharmacy fraternity. He is now employed by Rite-Aid Corporation as pharmacy manager in Glasgow. He serves as vice chair of the Salvation Army Board of Directors of Glasgow-Barren County and serves on the local Junior Achievement board. He has taught a JA class at Austin Tracy for the past five years. He is co-chair of the Kids First Political Action Committee of the Kentucky School Board Association. He has also served on the Barren County Board of Education as vice chair for the past 17 years. In 2005, he was elected regional chairman of KSBA and in 2008 elected an at-large member of the KSBA board of directors. England has been a recipient of the Kids First Award given by the KSBA, and the Glasgow Daily Times Rising Star Award. He is a member of Tracy United Methodist Church. He is the son of Clyde and Dorothy England and is married to the former Valerie New. They have three children, Courtney Garmon, Seth and Lucas.

• Doug Furlong

Furlong graduated from Park City High School in 1968 and he began working with the family business, Furlong’s Plumbing and Electric. He received his Master and Journeyman Plumbing License in Frankfort then began his own plumbing business. He purchased his first farm consisting of 200 acres in 1972. He ran the plumbing business in the daytime and farmed at night. Eventually he began farming full-time and at the present time owns 1,300 acres. His son, Brad, joined the operation in 1987 followed by son-in-law, Keith Gibson, in 1994. The total operation of owned and leased land now consists of 2,400 acres. He was one of the founding members of the South Barren Volunteer Fire Department serving as a firefighter and is now vice president of the board of directors. He is a member of the Cattleman’s Association and serves on the Southerns States board of directors. As a member of Old Zion Methodist Church, he serves as Sunday School superintendent, chairman of the Administrative Board and oversees the church cemetery. Some of his awards have been Master Conservationist, Farmer of the Year and the Goodyear Award. The farm operation solely supports three families: Doug and his wife, Pauletta; Brad and his wife, Kellie, and sons, Austin, 16, and Cameron, 11; and Keith and his wife, Kim, and daughter, Kaleigh Grace, 8.