Sen. Neil Anderson | Neil Anderson/Facebook
Sen. Neil Anderson | Neil Anderson/Facebook
In a Feb. 8 Facebook post, Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Aledo) honored the 2023 Illinois Pork Family of the Year.
"A great evening honoring The DeDecker Family from Henry County on being named the 2023 Illinois Pork Family of the Year as a part of the Illinois Pork Producers Association Expo!" Anderson said.
In his Facebook post, Anderson shared a link to a news release about the honor given to Mark and Karen DeDecker, of Cambridge.
“Not only have Mark and Karen devoted their time to the farm over the last several decades, they remained very active in their communities serving on multiple boards while raising three children,” Anderson said.
Illinois Pork Producers noted that Mark and Karen, and their son Lance currently farm 2,500 acres of corn and soybeans and market 7,000 hogs annually.
"From sun-up to sun-down for more than 75 years, through adversity and hardships, several wars and the great depression, the DeDecker family never gave up on their mission to help feed the world,” Anderson said.
According to Anderson's biography web page, he has been serving his community for the past eight years. In addition to being a state senator, he is also firefighter/paramedic in Moline.
Anderson's district now includes portions and or all of Adams, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Menard, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazwell, and Warren counties.